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i 


Prostitution  in  Europe 


IPuMfcattons  of  tbe  Bureau  of  Social  D^gtene 


Prostitution  in  Europe 


BY 

ABRAHAM  FLEXNER 


INTRODUCTION  BY 
JOHN  D.  ROCKEFELLER,  Jr. 

Chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  Social  Hygiene 


NEW  YORK 
THE  CENTURY  CO. 
1917 


Copyright,  1914,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


Published , January , 191 £ 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

i.  Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent  . . 3 

11.  The  Demand 39 

hi.  The  Supply 61 

iv.  Prostitution  and  the  Law 103 

v.  Regulation  and  Order  — The  Streets  . . 121 

vi.  Regulation  and  Order  — Segregation  and 

Bordells 165 

vii.  Regulation  and  Disease 204 

viii.  The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation  . . 265 

ix.  Abolition  and  Order 286 

x.  Abolition  and  Disease 343 

xi.  The  Outcome  of  European  Experience  . 395 

Appendices 403 

Regulations  of  Paris 
Regulations  of  Berlin 
Regulations  of  Hamburg 
Regulations  of  Vienna 
Danish  Law. 

Index 453 


v 


INTRODUCTION 


In  presenting  to  the  public  the  second  volume  of  the 
series  to  be  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Social  Hygiene,  it  is 
appropriate  to  state  briefly  the  origin  and  plans  of  the 
Bureau  and  to  indicate  the  place  assigned  to  the  present 
study  in  the  scheme  which  the  Bureau  has  undertaken  to 
develop. 

The  Bureau  of  Social  Hygiene  was  created  as  a result 
of  the  work  of  the  Special  Grand  Jury  which  investigated 
the  white  slave  traffic  in  New  York  City  in  1910.  It  was 
organized  only  after  a thorough  inquiry  had  been  made, 
involving  conferences  with  over  a hundred  leading  men 
and  women  in  the  city  as  to  the  relative  value  of  a pub- 
lic commission  as  compared  with  a private  organization. 
The  opinion  prevailed  that  a permanent,  unofficial  or- 
ganization, whose  efforts  would  be  continuous,  would 
probably  be  more  lasting  and  effective ; the  Bureau  of  So- 
cial Hygiene  was  therefore  established  in  the  winter  of 
1911.  Its  present  members  are  Miss  Katharine  Bement 
Davis,  Superintendent  of  the  New  York  State  Reforma- 
tory for  Women,  at  Bedford  Hills,  New  York;  Paul  M. 
Warburg,  of  the  firm  of  Kuhn,  Loeb  & Company;  Starr 
J.  Murphy,  of  the  New  York  Bar;  and  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller, Jr. 

As  was  stated  in  the  introduction  to  the  previous  vol- 
ume, spasmodic  efforts  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  pros- 
titution have  been  made  from  time  to  time  throughout 

vii 


Introduction 


the  course  of  history.  They  have  failed  for  several  rea- 
sons : First,  because,  as  a rule,  there  has  been  too  little 

accurate  information  as  to  the  facts  of  the  situation  to 
be  dealt  with;  again,  because  they  have  taken  too  little 
account  of  the  teachings  of  experience  elsewhere;  fi- 
nally, because  they  have  been  too  explosive,  too  discon- 
tinuous, to  be  effective,  even  if  soundly  conceived. 

The  first  book  of  the  present  series,  entitled,  “ Com- 
mercialized Prostitution  in  New  York  City,”  was  written 
by  Mr.  George  J.  Kneeland,  upon  the  completion  of  a 
careful  study  of  conditions  of  vice  in  Manhattan,  car- 
ried on  under  his  direction  by  a corps  of  trained  investi- 
gators. Its  aim  was  simply  descriptive;  it  presented  a 
faithful  picture  of  contemporaneous  conditions  in  New 
York. 

The  present  book  carries  the  work  a step  further. 
Without  raising  any  question  as  to  how  far  European  ex- 
perience is  significant  for  America,  the  author  describes 
prostitution  in  E’urope  and  discusses  the  various  methods 
of  handling  it  now  employed  in  the  large  cities  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  Continent.  The  subject  is  a highly  con- 
troversial one.  For  this  reason,  its  investigation  was 
assigned  to  one  who  had,  on  the  one  hand,  previously 
given  it  no  critical  thought  or  attention,  but  whose  studies 
of  education  in  this  country  and  abroad  had  demonstrated 
his  competency  to  deal  with  a complicated  topic  of  this 
nature.  Mr.  Flexner  was  absolutely  without  prejudice 
or  preconception,  just  as  he  was  absolutely  unfettered  by 
instructions.  He  had  no  previous  opinion  to  sustain ; he 
was  given  no  thesis  to  prove  or  disprove.  He  was  asked 
to  make  a thorough  and  impartial  examination  of  the 

viii 


Introduction 


subject  and  to  report  his  observations  and  conclusions. 
He  enjoyed  the  fullest  possible  facilities  for  his  inquiries 
and  to  them  and  the  writing  of  this  book  devoted  almost 
two  years. 

It  is  difficult  to  summarize  the  contents  of  the  volume. 
It  touches  many  different  aspects  of  the  problem, — the 
nature  of  modern  prostitution,  the  factors  determining 
demand,  the  sources  of  supply,  the  various  methods  used 
in  its  regulation  or  control,  their  operation  and  value,  the 
effect  of  abolishing  regulation,  and  the  general  outcome 
of  European  experience.  Though  Mr.  Flexner  has  in 
no  way  taken  America  into  consideration,  without  ques- 
tion the  facts  he  has  assembled  will  be  highly  pertinent 
to  any  discussion  in  this  country  as  to  the  merits  of  pro- 
posed legislation;  for  his  account  makes  it  clear  that 
widespread  misapprehension  prevails  as  to  the  policies 
pursued  by  European  cities,  and  their  results. 

Two  volumes  are  still  to  appear:  an  account  of  Euro- 
pean police  systems,  by  Mr.  Raymond  B.  Fosdick,  a mem- 
ber of  the  staff  of  the  Bureau,  and  formerly  Commis- 
sioner of  Accounts  of  New  York  City;  and  a final  volume 
dealing  with  prostitution  in  the  United  States  in  which  it 
is  hoped  that  a program  soundly  based  may  be  sug- 
gested. 

John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr. 
New  York,  Nov.  i,  1913. 


ix 


PROSTITUTION  IN  EUROPE 


PROSTITUTION  IN  EUROPE 


CHAPTER  I 

prostitution:  definition  and  extent 


Scope  of  investigation. — General  uniformity  of  phenomena. — 
Prostitution  an  urban  problem. — Medieval  and  modern  prostitution 
differ. — Prostitution  defined. — 'Need  of  broad  conception. — Im- 
morality distinguished  from  prostitution. — Prevalence  and  signifi- 
cance of  immorality. — Prostitution  not  necessarily  a permanent 
status. — Mortality  of  prostitutes.— Number  of  prostitutes. — Forms 
taken  by  prostitution. — Influence  of  alcohol. — Homosexuality. — The 
pimp. — The  Paris  prostitute. — The  cost  of  prostitution. 

Prostitution  will  be  studied  in  these  pages  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  practical  experience  of  European  coun- 
tries. An  effort  will  be  made  to  ascertain  its  forms  and 
extent,  the  sources  from  which  it  is  recruited,  the  con- 
ditions that  either  cause  or  conduce  to  it,  the  procedure 
of  different  communities  in  dealing  with  it  and  with  the 
conditions  responsible  for  it,  the  measures  which  have 
been  employed  by  way  of  combat  or  control,  and  the  re- 
sults which  have  been  thus  obtained.  Material  will  be 
drawn  from  extended  personal  inquiry  and  observation 
in  the  larger  cities  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  Italy, 
Belgium,  Switzerland,  Holland,  Denmark,  Norway, 
Sweden,  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,1  — from  the  coun- 

1 The  following  cities  were  visited : London,  Liverpool,  Bir- 

mingham, Manchester,  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  Paris,  Lyons,  Rome, 
Brussels,  Berlin,  Hamburg,  Dresden,  Frankfort-on-Main,  Cologne, 

3 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tries,  in  a word,  that  may  be  grouped  as  Western  Europe, 
because  they  are  characterized  by  a considerable  degree 
of  similarity  in  all  that  pertains  to  social  life,  national 
ideals,  and  political  institutions. 

In  the  countries  just  specified,  neither  law  nor  opinion 
is  strictly  homogeneous : in  consequence,  the  phenom- 
ena under  consideration  respond  to  differences  of  view- 
point or  pressure  by  somewhat  altering  their  external 
manifestations.  The  resulting  divergencies  are  at  times 
only  superficial,  at  times  important  enough  to  affect,  per- 
haps, the  volume  of  vice  itself.  None  the  less  at  bottom 
the  situation  is  sufficiently  similar  to  support  the  general- 
ized method  of  treatment  which  has  been  adopted  in  this 
book.  Distinctions  will  not  be  ignored;  but  on  the 
whole  it  will  appear  that  they  serve  rather  to  emphasize 
fundamental  agreement.  Recent  investigation,  indeed, 
tends  to  show  that  such  agreement  is  of  far  wider  scope 
than  is  here  assumed;  for  in  prostitution,  if  nowhere 
else,  the  old  adage  holds  — “ There  is  nothing  new 
under  the  sun.”  The  source-books  of  both  ancient  and 
medieval  worlds  disclose  an  amazing  identity  with 
modern  times  in  this  melancholy  respect.2 

Such  differences  as  still  persist  — in  regard  to  view- 
point, form,  or  public  policy, — are,  at  least  in  the 
area  here  dealt  with,  in  a fair  way  to  disappear.  The 
progress  of  democratic  thought  and  government,  increas- 

Hamm,  Stuttgart,  Munich,  The  Hague,  Amsterdam,  Rotterdam,  Cop- 
enhagen, Stockholm,  Christiania,  Geneva,  Zurich,  Vienna,  Budapest. 

2 This  has  been  conclusively  established  by  the  researches  of  Dr. 
Iwan  Bloch  in  his  great  work  “Die  Prostitution,”  (Berlin,  1912), 
one  volume  of  which  has  already  appeared.  Dr.  Bloch  has  cour- 
teously placed  the  proof  sheets  of  the  second  volume  at  my  dis- 
posal. 


4 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


ingly  easy  and  unobstructed  trading,  the  advance  of  in- 
dustrialism with  the  revision  of  the  ethical  code  following 
in  the  wake  of  practical  sex  equality,  finally,  even  delib- 
erate imitation  are  rapidly  developing  decided  homo- 
geneity of  attitude  and  effort  in  reference  to  many  funda- 
mental human  concerns.  The  student  of  the  particular 
subject  with  which  we  are  occupied  is,  therefore,  nowa- 
days, more  and  more  likely  to  be  struck  by  the  uniformity 
of  phenomena  rather  than  by  local  or  national  peculiar- 
ities, in  the  course  of  an  inquiry  that  begins  in  Glasgow 
and  concludes  in  Budapest. 

At  the  outset  it  is  important  to  observe  that  throughout 
Western  Europe  prostitution  has  in  the  last  few  centuries 
undergone  essentially  the  same  evolution.  Prostitution 
is  an  urban  problem,  its  precise  character  largely  depend- 
ent on  the  size  of  the  town.  Now  the  medieval  town  in 
Western  Europe  was  small.  The  really  great  cities  of 
the  middle  ages  were  all  Islamic:  Constantinople,  Bag- 

dad, and  Cairo  numbered  more  than  a million  souls 
apiece,  Seville  and  Cordova  were  each  half  as  large.  Be- 
side these  the  main  cities  of  Western  Europe  were  in 
point  of  size  insignificant : Paris  had  a dubious  200,000 ; 

Vienna,  50,000;  London,  35,000;  Cologne,  30,000;  Ham- 
burg, 18,000;  Dresden,  5,000.  Towns  without  water 
communication  rarely  reached  25,000;  many  important 
places  did  not  exceed  5,ooo.3  Size  largely  determined 
the  character  of  urban  life  and  therewith  the  nature  of 
medieval  European  prostitution.  The  inhabitants  of 
these  hardly  more  than  villages  were  well  known  to  one 

3 The  evidence  and  authorities  are  exhaustively  given  by  Bloch, 
loc.  cit .,  Vol.  I,  pp.  685,  etc.  Constantinople  became  Islamic  in  1453. 

5 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

another;  the  family  was  still  an  intact  organization;  the 
floating  population — ■ aside  from  organized  move- 
ments like  the  crusades,  pilgrimages,  or  armies, — was 
not  voluminous;  at  any  rate  the  stranger  was  known  as 
such.  Medieval  prostitution  was,  in  the  main,  of  two 
varieties,  resident  or  itinerant:  the  former  more  or  less 
commonly  living  in  regular  houses  of  prostitution  — the 
so-called  bor dells ; the  latter,  either  vagrant  or  informally 
attached  like  the  camp-follower  to  the  temporal  or  spir- 
itual armies  that  swept  to  and  fro  across  the  continent, 
now  waging  war,  now  fulfilling  religious  vows.  But 
whether  resident  or  itinerant,  the  prostitute  was  a marked 
woman  in  the  small  medieval  community.  Even  if  her 
vocation  was  plied  secretly,  her  true  character  inevitably 
and  quickly  became  notorious ; still  more  so,  of  course,  if 
carried  on  professionally,  for  then  she  was  visibly  to  be 
discriminated  by  garb,  appearance,  abode,  and  outward 
manner  of  living.  The  distinction  between  the  vicious 
and  the  virtuous  woman  was  thus  in  the  middle  ages  un- 
commonly broad  and  clear. 

Modern  conditions  contrast  strongly  with  those  that 
I have  just  sketched.  The  cities,  themselves  huge,  are 
for  practical  purposes  still  further  enlarged  by  the  sub- 
sidiary communities  that  hang  about  their  fringes.  Ber- 
lin, for  example,  so  late  as  1816  a town  of  197,000  in- 
habitants, contained  in  1910,  2,071,257;  Charlottenburg, 
to  mention  only  one  of  the  suburbs  practically  indistin- 
guishable from  it,  adds  305,978.  London  numbers  7,- 
252,963;  Liverpool,  760,357;  Glasgow,  784,496;  Paris, 
2,888,110;  Lyons,  523,796;  Vienna,  2,031,498;  Buda- 
pest, 881,600;  Munich,  596,467;  Hamburg,  931,035; 

6 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 

Dresden,  548,308 ; Amsterdam,  580,960 ; Stockholm, 
346,599;  Copenhagen,  476,806;  Brussels  itself,  strictly 
speaking,  a town  of  only  175,000,  is  increased  to  659,- 
000  by  nine  contiguous  self-governing  suburbs  which,  for 
all  practical  purposes,  merge  into  it.  The  mere  quanti- 
tative difference  between  the  medieval  town  and  the 
modern  city  qualitatively  transforms  the  problem  of 
prostitution.  In  these  latter-day  Babylons,  the  family  is 
frequently  shattered;  thousands  of  detached,  more  or 
less  friendless,  more  or  less  irresponsible,  girls  and  boys 
pour  into  them  to  earn  a livelihood  under  conditions  that, 
so  far  from  forming,  actually  disintegrate  character  and 
ambition.  The  situation  is  still  further  complicated  by 
the  continuous  presence  of  a huge  floating  population, 
in  Paris,  Berlin,  and  London  reaching  into  hundreds 
of  thousands,  restlessly  surging  in  and  out,  in  search 
of  trade,  excitement,  or  amusement.  Within  the  more 
or  less  tightly  closed  circle,  characteristic  of  a simple 
community,  the  members  of  which  are  known  to  one  an- 
other, mutual  demands  in  the  matter  of  conduct  uphold 
the  accepted  ideal  and  tradition ; family  and  clan  morality 
thus  sustain  the  weaker  members.  Moreover,  whatever 
individuals  may  be,  they  are  known  to  one  another  as 
such.  But  in  the  modern  Babylons  of  which  I am  speak- 
ing, one  no  longer  knows  one’s  nearest  neighbors.  Temp- 
tation and  inducement  wax  strongest,  precisely  where 
protection  and  restraint  have  become  feeblest;  the  con- 
ditions favor  not  only  irresponsibility  but  concealment. 
The  mere  numerical  increase  and  the  absolute  impossibil- 
ity of  classifying  women  and  men  as  virtuous  or  vicious 
on  account  of  sheer  ignorance  of  their  life  and  char- 

7 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

acter  thus  profoundly  differentiate  medieval  from  mod- 
ern prostitution.  The  former  was  at  once  limited  and 
definite;  the  latter  is  not  only  huge  but  vague. 

From  a practical  point  of  view,  these  are  facts  of  un- 
mistakable importance.  While  thirty  lewd  women  in  a 
town  of  3,000  inhabitants  and  5,000  in  a town  of  half  a 
million  represent  precisely  the  same  proportion  — one 
percent  in  both  cases  — nevertheless  the  quantitative  in- 
crease makes  an  enormous  difference  in  the  feasibility  of 
measures  designed  to  deal  with  one  aspect  or  another  of 
the  situation.  A device  that  might  conceivably  be  effec- 
tive on  the  smaller  scale  would  probably  break  down 
completely  if  applied  on  the  larger.  Economically,  ad- 
ministratively, hygienically,  the  problem  thus  changes  its 
character,  the  moment  the  numbers  involved  pass  beyond 
a certaiu  point. 

An  additional  difficulty  is  due  to  mere  size ; the 
prostitute  can  not  be  strictly  discriminated  in  the  huge 
modern  city.  Wherever  professional  prostitution  has 
flourished,  so-called  clandestine  prostitution  has  ex- 
isted. But  in  the  middle  ages  clandestine  prostitutes 
were  individually  so  notorious  that,  even  when  they 
avoided  the  bordell,  they  frequently  lived  in  the  bordell 
quarter.  In  any  event,  there  was  no  doubt  as  to  their 
business  and  character.  In  precisely  the  same  way,  there 
exists  to-day  in  Europe  the  avowed  professional  prosti- 
tute and  the  equally  notorious  and  unmistakable  so- 
called  clandestine  prostitute, — both  perfectly  obvious  to 
the  police  as  well  as  to  the  casual  observer.  But  a 
highly  important  distinction  must  be  noted:  of  modern 
prostitution  this  known  contingent,  partly  outright  pro- 

8 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


fessional,  partly  so-called  clandestine,4  is  the  smaller  and, 
from  many  points  of  view,  the  less  significant  fraction. 
Neither  by  garb,  appearance,  abode,  or  apparent  manner 
of  living  are  the  majority  of  women  subsisting  wholly  or 
partly  on  the  proceeds  of  sexual  irregularity  any 
longer  to  be  recognized.  The  frankly  avowed  pros- 
titute is  only  one,  and  perhaps  not  the  most  im- 
portant, of  the  types  with  which  this  account  must  deal ; 
and  this  complication  originates  in  the  size  of  the  modern 
city  and  in  the  industrial  and  other  conditions  to  which 
city  growth  is  due. 

In  the  endeavor  to  arrive  at  an  accurate  definition  of 
prostitution  no  little  effort  has  been  expended.  Differ- 
ent conceptions  are  possible  from  different  points  of 
view.  The  continental  police  define  prostitution  from 
the  standpoint  of  registration  or  inscription:  as  a rule 
they  register  or,  where  the  system  has  been  discontinued, 
used  to  register,  only  professional  prostitutes, — women, 
that  is,  who  have  no  other  means  of  support  than  prosti- 
tution. From  the  police  point  of  view  the  prostitute  is 
therefore  an  inscribed  woman,  or  a woman  who,  some- 
how eluding  inscription,  ought  to  be  inscribed,  or  one 
who  is  at  any  rate  liable  to  inscription,  on  the  ground 
that  she  earns  her  livelihood  through  sexual  promis- 

4 It  looks  like  a contradiction  in  terms  to  speak  of  known  clan- 
destine prostitution.  Current  usage  on  the  Continent  construes 
“professional  prostitute”  to  mean  a woman  who  has  been  regis- 
tered by  the  police ; any  prostitute  who  is  not  registered  is  therefore 
called  clandestine.  Many  of  these  so-called  clandestines  are  just  as 
notorious  as  the  registered  professionals.  The  clandestine  class 
therefore  nowadays  contains  known,  but  unregistered  women,  as 
well  as  unknown  or  not  reliably  known  prostitutes.  It  is  this  last 
named  contingent  that  was  insignificant  in  medieval,  and  has  be- 
come so  numerous  in  modern  towns. 


9 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

cuity.  Vast  numbers,  however,  escape  through  the  wide 
meshes  of  this  net.  Many  prostitutes  are  actually  engaged 
in  some  sort  of  remunerative  work.  The  barmaids  of 
the  German  “Animierkneipe,” 5 the  singers  and  dan- 
cers of  low  grade  Varietes  are  prostitutes  who  obtain  their 
customers  by  means  of  their  occupations;  yet  they  are 
usually  exempt  from  inscription  as  professional  prosti- 
tutes because  gainfully  employed,  and  being  exempt  from 
inscription  they  fall  outside  the  police  definition  of  pro- 
fessional prostitution.  The  mere  fact  that  partial  or  even 
pretended  employment  is  a protection  against  police  inter- 
ference leads  many  prostitutes  to  keep  up  a more  or  less 
nominal  connection  with  work.  Of  1,177  venereally  dis- 
eased women,  undoubtedly  prostitutes,  treated  in  the 
municipal  hospital  of  Zurich,  only  7.9%  owned  to  being 
prostitutes;  6.7%  more  confessed  to  no  employment,  but 
all  the  others  — 85.4% — claimed  a vocation  of  some 
sort.6  It  is  therefore  obvious  that  the  police  definition 
fails  to  square  with  the  facts.  Parent-Duchatelet,  follow- 
ing an  official  declaration,  uses  the  term  prostitution, 
where  “ several  mercenary  acts  of  immorality  have  been 
legally  established,  when  the  woman  involved  is  publicly 
notorious,  when  she  has  been  caught  in  the  act  by  other 
witnesses  than  her  accuser  or  the  police  agent.”  7 From 
this  definition,  however,  all  really  clandestine  prostitution 
is  quite  omitted ; it  suffices  only  for  the  most  obvious  and 

5 The  Animierkneipe  is  a low-grade  drinking-resort  in  which  the 
barmaid  drinks  with  her  customer,  often  in  a screened  nook  or 
corner,  if  he  can  be  induced  to  occupy  one. 

6 Muller:  Zur  Kenntnis  der  Prostitution  in  Zurich.  (Zurich, 
1911),  pp.  11  and  44.  Abundant  additional  illustrations  will  ap- 
pear in  subsequent  chapters,  e.  g.  Chap.  Ill,  V,  VII,  etc. 

7 A.-J.-B.  Parent-Duchatelet:  De  la  Prostitution  dans  la  Villi 
de  Paris . (2  volumes,  Paris,  1857)  Vol.  I,  p.  25. 

10 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 

necessary  police  purposes.  By  way  of  contrast  with  the 
narrow  conceptions  above  given,  I shall,  for  reasons  that 
will  shortly  appear,  consider  prostitution  to  be  character- 
ized by  three  elements  variously  combined : barter, 

promiscuity,  emotional  indifference.  The  barter  need 
not  involve  the  passing  of  money,  though  money  is  its 
usual  medium;  gifts  or  pleasures  may  be  the  equivalent 
inducement.  Nor  need  promiscuity  be  utterly  choice- 
less ; a woman  is  not  the  less  a prostitute  because  she  is 
more  or  less  selective  in  her  associations.  Emotional  in- 
difference may  be  fairly  inferred  from  barter  and  prom- 
iscuity. In  this  sense,  any  person  is  a prostitute  who 
habitually  or  intermittently  has  sexual  relations  more  or 
less  promiscuously  for  money  or  other  mercenary  con- 
sideration. Neither  notoriety,  arrest,  nor  lack  of  other 
occupation  is  an  essential  criterion.  A woman  may  be  a 
prostitute,  even  though  not  notorious,  even  though  never 
arrested,  even  though  simultaneously  otherwise  employed 
in  a paid  occupation. 

The  scope  of  the  term  is  thus  greatly,  and,  as  I hope 
to  show,  justifiably,  nay  necessarily,  extended.  Barter, 
emotional  indifference,  and  more  or  less  promiscuity  do 
not  in  modern  cities  characterize  the  sex  relations  of  the 
avowed  or  professional  prostitute  alone.  They  are 
equally  characteristic  marks  of  the  clandestine  prosti- 
tute, using  the  term  in  its  literal  meaning  to  designate 
the  numerous  class  of  professional  prostitutes  whose  real 
character  is  known  only  to  their  own  clientele  and  their 
close  female  companions;  of  the  occasional  prostitute, 
— women  who  alternately  emerge  from  and  relapse  into 
,an  irregular  life;  of  the  incidental  prostitute,— those 

ii 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

who  carry  on  more  or  less  prostitution  without  interrupt- 
ing some  honorable  employment;  of  women  who  practise 
prostitution  under  cloak  of  other  occupations;  of  women, 
who  ceasing  to  be  kept  as  mistresses  practise  prostitu- 
tion as  a stop-gap  until  a firmer  footing  is  once  more 
found;  of  women  who  reserve  themselves  by  express  ar- 
rangement for  a small  group,  none  of  whom  can  alone 
afford  their  support;  of  women,  who  faithul  to  one  in- 
dividual at  a time  are  still  taken  up  by  a succession  of 
men  paying  for  favors;  finally  of  married  women,  by  no 
means  always  of  the  lowest  classes,  who,  perhaps  irre- 
proachable in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  are  not  above  earning 
through  ignominy  the  price  of  luxuries.8  Here  are 
eight  different  categories,  falling  outside  the  narrow  con- 
ception of  prostitution,  but  nevertheless  belonging  to 
prostitution,  if  prostitution  is  conceived  to  be  character- 
ized by  barter,  emotional  indifference,  and  promiscuity. 

For  this  broad  construction  there  exist  the  most  sub- 
stantial of  grounds.  Why  do  we  object  to  prostitution 
at  all?  Obviously,  it  is  repugnant  for  one  or  more  of 
several  reasons:  in  the  first  place,  because  of  the  per- 
sonal demoralization  it  entails ; in  the  second,  because  of 
economic  waste ; again,  because  it  is  by  far  the  main  fac- 
tor in  the  spread  of  venereal  disease;  finally,  because  of 
its  intimate  association  with  disorder  or  crime.  Unques- 

8 Adrien  Mithouard  in  Rapports  au  nom  de  la  2 * Commission 
sur  la  Prostitution,  etc.  (Conseil  Municipal  de  Paris,  1904)  p.  no. 
A.  Moll : Handbuch  der  S exualwissenschaften  (Leipzig,  1912) 

p.  354,  describes  the  same  type  as  known  in  Germany:  “To  clan- 

destine prostitution  are  to  be  reckoned  also  girls  and  women  of 
better  families  who  sell  themselves  in  the  salons  of  the  pander.” 
So  also  S.  Leonhard : “ Girls  and  women  who  live  m comparative 

luxury,  who  have  a calling  and  a good  social  position  are  often 
prostitutes.”  Die  Prostitution  (Munich,  1912)  p.  23;  also  p.  20. 

12 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 

tionably  the  full-time  notorious  prostitutes  who  are  the 
especial  objects  of  police  care  exemplify  all  the  counts 
in  this  indictment;  they  are  themselves  demoralized  and 
they  spread  demoralization;  they  cause  enormous  waste; 
they  inevitably  and  invariably  spread  disease;  as  a rule 
they  have  criminal  or  quasi-criminal  connections.  But 
there  could  be  no  greater  mistake  than  to  suppose  that 
the  other  categories  above  specified  are  free  from  objec- 
tion on  these  scores.  Part-time  prostitution,  occasional 
prostitution,  pretentious  prostitution, — all  the  various 
kinds  and  grades  above  enumerated  naturally  and  inevi- 
tably conduce  to  similar  results.  They  may  be  less  con- 
spicuous or  less  offensive,  but  they  are  equally  danger- 
ous. If  then  prostitution  is  objectionable  because  of 
demoralization,  waste,  disease,  or  crime,  then  it  is  neces- 
sary so  to  define  it  as  to  include  all  the  varieties  to  which 
one  or  more  of  the  unfortunate  results  in  questions  is  at- 
tributable. The  lowest  forms  are  most  closely  con- 
nected with  crime  and  disorder,  and  as  the  police  are 
mainly  concerned  with  crime  and  disorder,  they  con- 
tent themselves  with  a working  conception  of  prostitu- 
tion that  goes  no  further.  But  the  general  concern  of  so- 
ciety must  regard  as  hardly  less  serious  menaces  to  its 
highest  welfare  the  personal  demoralization,  the  economic 
loss,  the  spread  of  disease  equally  associated  with  the 
less  gross  forms  of  the  evil.  For  these  are  attended  by 
personal  degradation,  even  though  some  individuals,  on 
the  whole  a considerable  number,  ultimately  react  vigor- 
ously enough  to  recover  their  self-respect;  and  they  in- 
volve enormous  economic  waste,  increasing  rather  than 
diminishing  with  the  degree  of  dignity  with  which  the 

13 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

business  is  surrounded,  so  that  what  externally  least  re- 
sembles commercial  prostitution  is  perhaps  from  the  eco- 
nomic standpoint  most  severely  to  be  reprobated  as  such. 

It  is,  however,  in  respect  to  disease  that  the  wide  defi- 
nition can  be  most  readily  and  fully  justified.  Venereal 
disease  is  the  certain  harvest  of  any  degree  of  promis- 
cuity in  the  sex  relation.  The  diminution  of  venereal 
disease  is  one  of  the  most  pressing  objects  of  hygienic 
effort;  it  can  be  accomplished  only  by  some  sort  of  in- 
terference with  prostitution.  It  would  therefore  be 
absurd  to  define  prostitution  so  narrowly  that  many  of 
the  regular  foci  of  infection  remain  outside  the  definition 
and  hence  beyond  the  reach  of  any  policy  contrived  for 
the  purpose  of  dealing  with  them.  How  numerous  the 
foci  are  which  a narrow  conception  would  thus  ignore 
will  be  more  fully  shown  in  subsequent  chapters ; 9 but 
enough  must  be  said  in  this  connection  to  warrant  the 
extension  of  the  definition  beyond  the  usual  police  lines. 
A statistical  study  of  venereal  disease  at  Mannheim  cov- 
ering nine  years  (1892-1901)  showed  that  63%  of  the 
infections  were  traceable  to  professional  prostitutes  in  the 
narrow  police  sense  of  the  term,  no  less  than  3 7%,  how- 
ever, to  the  occasional,  incidental,  and  other  prostitutes 
here  explicitly  included  in  the  term;  among  whom  girls 
in  active  service  as  waitresses,  servants,  and  shop-hands 
are  the  most  important.10  A subsequent  investigation 
of  594  cases  disclosed  278  professionals  and  316  — over 

9 Particularly  Chapter  VII.  It  is  obvious  that  there  is  wide  room 
for  error  in  tracing  the  source  of  an  infection,  but  allowance  may  be 
made  for  this  without  affecting  the  argument  here  made. 

10  H.  Loeb:  Statistiches  uber  Geschlechtskrankheiten  in  Mann- 
heim. Zeitschrift  fur  Bekdmpfung  der  Geschlechtskrankheiten 
(Leipzig).  Band  II,  pp.  93  etc.  Loeb  admits  a few  persons  whom 

14 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


50% — girls  serving  in  one  capacity  or  another  (wait- 
ress, seamstress,  laundress,  actress,  etc.)  as  the  sources 
of  infection.11  A similar  statistic  from  Hanover  proves 
in  the  same  way  that  it  is  from  the  standpoint  of  sanita- 
tion absurd  to  limit  prostitution  to  the  absolutely  in- 
discriminate, professional  and  notorious  activity:  of  330 
women,  to  whom  infections  were  traced,  42%  (139) 
were  outright  professionals,  though  only  partly  inscribed, 
the  remaining  58%  being  mainly  girls  who  were  simul- 
taneously engaged  in  paid  employments  in  shops,  tav- 
erns, domestic  service,  theaters,  etc.12  Such  conditions 
prevail  generally  on  the  Continent.  The  Munich  police 
have  lately  made  a most  careful  study  of  the  callings  in 
which  2,574  clandestine  prostitutes  well  known  to  them 
are  simultaneously  engaged:  721  are  servants,  608  are 

waitresses,  250  factory  workers,  246  seamstresses,  60 
are  connected  with  the  stage,  52  are  laundresses,  40  dress- 
makers, 28  models,  etc.  Similar  results  can  be  cited 
from  other  sources.  Of  100  venereal  patients  at  Rouen, 
only  31  of  the  infections  could  be  traced  to  inscribed 
prostitutes ; 69  cases  were  attributed  to  clandestines,  par- 
tials,  etc.13  Of  297  traceable  infections  in  Stockholm, 
146  — practically  one-half  — were  attributed  to  girls 
also  engaged  in  work.14  The  police  of  Hamburg  are 

my  definition  would  exclude, — viz.,  mistresses,  etc.,  who  ought  to 
be  excluded  so  long  as  they  are  attached  to  one  individual.  This 
valuable  publication  will  be  referred  to  henceforth  as  Zeitschrift. 

11  Lion  & Loeb,  Zeitschrift  VII,  p.  295. 

12  F.  Bloch : Die  nicht-gewerbsmdssige  Prostitution.  Zeitschrift, 
Band  X,  p.  70.  Bloch’s  patients  come  from  all  social  classes.  In 
Zeitschrift  XII,  pp.  314  etc.,  Oppenheim  and  Neugebauer  deal  with 
the  infection  of  laborers  alone. 

1 ® Georges  Hebart : Ou  se  prennent  les  malades  veneriennes f 

These  de  Paris,  1906,  pp.  31-34. 

14  Zeitschrift,  V,,  p.  286. 


15 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

at  any  rate  logical,  for  there  girls  employed  in  bars  and 
fish-shops  may  be  registered  as  prostitutes;  in  certain 
smaller  North  German  cities  prostitution  is  so  commonly 
associated  with  employment  as  barmaid  that  the  latter 
is  practically  merged  with  the  former.  Under  condi- 
tions in  which  barmaids,  shop  girls,  servants,  chorus- 
girls,  etc.,15  are  either  permanently  or  intermittently  en- 
gaged in  prostitution,  and  when  so  engaged  bring  about 
precisely  the  same  sort  of  damage  that  is  wrought  by 
prostitutes  who  are  nothing  else,  it  is  manifestly  illogical 
to  use  the  term  so  as  to  designate  the  latter  class  only. 
The  fact  that  complication  with  disorder  attaches  only  to 
the  lower  types  is  assuredly  no  reason  for  restricting  the 
designation  of  prostitution  to  them,  once  we  realize  that, 
on  the  score  of  personal  demoralization,  economic  waste, 
and  the  danger  of  disease,  the  more  sophisticated  or 
subtle  forms  of  commercialized  immorality  are  equally 
dangerous  and  destructive.  Prostitution  will  therefore 
in  these  pages  be  construed  to  mean  more  or  less  promis- 
cuity— even  transient  promiscuity, — of  sex  relationship 
for  pay,  or  its  equivalent. 

The  definition  just  given  is  intended  to  exclude  both 
immorality  and  unconventionality  in  the  sex  relation, 
though,  for  reasons  that  will  appear,  they  require  inci- 
dental discussion  in  an  account  of  prostitution.  Of 
these  unconventional  or  irregular  sex  relationships  there 
are  in  Western  Europe  many  varieties,  more  or  less  wide- 
spread. Most  substantial  is  the  informal  union  which 
serves  as  a substitute  for  marriage.  In  these  combina- 
tions mutual  fidelity  is  expected,  as  well  as  complete 

15  See,  for  example,  Muller,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  11-13. 

16 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


responsibility  for  such  children  as  may  be  born.  A com- 
bination of  this  sort  is  occasionally  permanent;  occa- 
sionally it  is  converted  into  marriage;  oftener,  perhaps, 
it  binds  only  during  mutual  congeniality,  being  dissolved 
when  congeniality  ceases,  or  more  frequently  when 
one  or  the  other  member  has  already  entered  on  the 
stages  preliminary  to  another  combination.  In  the  city 
such  informal  mating  of  industrial  workers  of  opposite 
sexes  is  common; 16  the  shop  girl  contracts  an  alliance  of 
this  kind  with  a clerk  of  her  own  class,  or  not  infre- 
quently with  a student  or  professional  man,  more  or  less 
above  her  in  rank.  Of  the  non-legalized  cohabitation  of 
the  artisans  of  London,  Booth  remarks  that  at  times 
“they  behave  best  if  not  married  to  the  women  with 
whom  they  live  ” ; 17  occasionally  two  parties  to  previous 
but  unsuccessful  matrimony  pair  off  again  without  the  in- 
tervention of  the  divorce  court,  and  “ as  a rule,  are  faith- 
ful to  each  other.”  18  Somewhat  similar  is  an  informal 
relationship  continued  as  such  until  a child  is  born  — or 
shortly  after  — whereupon  the  neglected  rites  may  be 
duly  performed.  The  high  percentage  of  illegitimacy 
is  thus  partly  accounted  for:  In  Berlin  20%  of  the 

births  are  outside  of  wedlock;  in  all  Germany,  almost 
10%. 19  The  incident  is  so  common  among  the  lower 
classes,  especially  in  the  rural  districts,  as  hardly  to  carry 
any  stigma  at  all.  “ Frequent  illegitimacy,”  writes 

10  Paul  Kampffmeyer : Die  Prostitution  ads  sosiale  Klassen- 
erscheinung.  (Berlin,  1905)  p.  2 6. 

17  Charles  Booth : Life  and  Labor  in  London  (final  volume,  Lon- 
don, 1903)  p.  41. 

18  Ibid  p.  42. 

19  Statistisches  Jahrbuch  fur  das  Deutsche  Reich  — quoted  by  J. 
Marcuse:  Die  Beschrdnkung  der  Geburtenzahl  (Munich,  1913)  p. 
22. 


17 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

Adele  Schreiber,  “ may  be  the  expression  of  wholesome 
monogamous  conditions,  as  indeed  is  often  the  case  in 
mountainous  countries.  Premarital  relations  are  there 
common,  are  characterized  by  mutual  fidelity  and,  with 
exceptions  of  course,  look  forward  to  marriage  when  a 
child  is  born  and  the  parents  are  able  to  establish  a 
home.”  20  These  relations  must  be  distinguished  from 
the  episodic  connection  that  is  a mere  incident  in  the 
course  of  casual  companionship.  Mainly  in  this  latter 
sense,  “ immoral  relations  before  marriage  among  the 
lower  classes  are  not  unusual  and  are  indulgently  re- 
garded,” 21  writes  Charles  Booth  of  London.  Devon,  de- 
scribing Glasgow  conditions,  observes  to  the  same  effect 
that  “ girls  do  not  seem  to  suffer  in  self-respect  nor 
greatly  in  the  esteem  of  others,  if  they  yield  themselves 
to  the  lad  who  is  their  sweetheart  for  the  time.  If  de- 
cency is  observed,  morals  are  taken  for  granted.”  22  On 
the  Continent  these  conditions  also  exist.  “ Extra-mari- 
tal, especially  pre-marital  intercourse  is  everywhere  in 
the  country  very  frequent,” 23  declares  Moll.  Of  cer- 
tain communities  in  Saxony  it  has  been  deliberately  as- 
serted that  “ no  girl  over  sixteen  is  still  a virgin  ” ; the 
German  peasant  is  declared  to  have  no  conception  of 
the  meaning  of  chastity.24  Welander  dealing  with  452 

20 Adele  Schreiber:  Mutterschaft  (Munich,  1912)  p.  260. 

21  Loc.  cit.,  p.  44. 

22 James  Devon:  The  Criminal  and  the  Community  (London 

and  New  York,  1912)  p.  158. 

23  Moll:  loc.  cit.,  p.  371.  Also:  Kampffmeyer : loc.  cit.,  p.  20. 

24Wohlrabe:  Schaden  und  Gefahren  der  sexuellen  Unsittlich- 
keit  (Leipzig,  1908)  pp.  8-10.  Fuller  accounts  have  been  published 
by  Wittenberg  and  Huckstadt : Die  geschlechtlich-sittlichen  V er- 

hdltnisse  der  evangelischen  Landbewohner  im  Deutschen  Reich 
(Leipzig,  1895).  These  authors  are  all  clergymen  and  may  take 
too  unfavorable  a view. 


18 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 

prostitutes  who  could  give  a clear  account  of  their  first 
lapse,  found  that  299  had  erred  while  still  living  at  home 
or  before  leaving  the  country  to  take  a position  in  Stock- 
holm.25 

Episodic  laxity  unquestionably  exposes  the  girl  to  dan- 
gers that  readily  result  in  prostitution,  just  as  it  de- 
velops in  her  comrade  the  appetite  that  leads  him  to 
consort  with  prostitutes.  But  in  itself  mere  laxity  is  not 
to  be  confused  with  prostitution.  The  instances  above 
given  show  indeed  how  widely  immorality  varies  in  eth- 
ical quality.  An  irregular  sex  relation  may  indicate  only 
carelessness  of  the  convention  that  restricts  sexual  con- 
gress to  the  married  relation;  it  may,  at  the  other  ex- 
treme, indicate  total  indifference  to  the  ethical  standard 
that  forbids  sexual  commerce  unaccompanied  by  high 
emotional  sanction,  mutual  respect,  complete  responsi- 
bility for  the  natural  result.  The  former  is  a marriage 
in  all  but  form ; the  latter  is  simple  depravity ; but  neither 
involves  prostitution.  A lapse  — one  or  several  — does 
not  imply  prostitution;  nor  is  the  paid  mistress  a pros- 
titute so  long  as  her  relations,  emotionally  indifferent 
and  mercenary  though  they  be,  are  free  from  promiscu- 
ity. It  must  be  remembered,  therefore,  that  irregular  sex 
connection  may  not  only  lack  barter  or  promiscuity,  but 
on  the  woman’s  side  at  least  may  possess  high  emotional 
coloring,  whether  she  be  mistress,  unwedded  wife,  or 
compliant  sweetheart. 

In  the  designation  of  prostitute  there  is  nothing  final 
or  irretrievable.  It  is  indeed  one  of  the  peculiar  ear- 
marks of  modern  prostitution  that  thousands  who  floun- 

25  Zeitschrift,  Vol.  XI,  p.  410.  An  opinion  differing  somewhat 
from  that  in  the  text  is  held  by  J.  Kyrle,  Zeitschrift  iVIII,  p.  352. 

19 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

<3er  for  a while  eventually  escape  from  the  bog.  The 
tendency  is  undoubtedly  towards  complete  disintegration ; 
women  who  drift  into  it  may  drift  more  and  more 
deeply  into  the  morass.  But  the  numerically  more  power- 
ful drift  is  nevertheless  outwards;  while  some  are  over- 
whelmed, thousands  emerge.  Having  apparently  started 
on  the  descent,  they  somehow  arrest  their  downward 
progress  and  clamber  out, — sometimes  from  the  very 
bottom,  more  frequently  and  more  hopefully,  before  the 
lower  depths  have  been  reached.26  Modem  prostitution 
is  therefore  unprecedentedly  fluctuating  in  character. 
Johansson’s  admirable  studies  of  the  data  contained 
in  the  Inspection-bureau  of  Stockholm  “ show  that  the 
same  woman  who  one  month  is  in  domestic  service  or 
at  other  work  will  the  next  month  register  with  the 
police  and  thus  enter  the  ranks  of  professional  prosti- 
tution; the  third  month  she  will  have  her  position  again 
and  be  freed  from  the  requirement  to  undergo  inspec- 
tion; thus  the  thing  shifts  for  years  and  years.”  27  Dur- 
ing the  first  three  years  of  registration  a considerable 
number  of  the  women  leave  Stockholm,  give  up  pros- 
titution and  become  domestic  servants  or  factory 
hands.28  This  has  been  the  case  since  modern  urban 

26  This  will  appear  clearly  in  the  statistics  given  in  Chap.  V. 

27 1 Reglementeringsfragen ; (Upsala,  1911)  p.  63. 

28  Ibid p.  49.  Carefully  compiled  tables  covering  the  years, 
1870-1904,  are  given  in  Prof.  Johansson’s  report  prepared  for  the 
Swedish  Commission  appointed  to  study  the  regulation  of  prostitu- 
tion. This  report  is  published  in  four  volumes  in  the  Swedish 
language  (Stockholm,  1910).  I shall  refer  to  it  as  Report  Swedish 
Commission.  Prof.  Johansson’s  researches  are  contained  in  Vol. 
III.  For  the  tables  here  referred  to,  see  pp.  19-20.  In  1900-4, 
31.7%  of  the  registered  prostitutes  were  dropped  from  the  police 
rolls  and  of  these  73.4%  engaged  in  some  decent  occupation.  As 
this  volume  goes  to  press,  a new  book  by  Prof.  Johansson  appears: 

20 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


conditions  began : “ Let  us  recollect,”  wrote  Par- 

ent-Duchatelet, “ that  for  the  majority  of  public  women 
prostitution  is  a transitory  estate ; they  quit  for  the  most 
part  after  a year;  very  few  indeed  remain  until  death.”  29 
The  Munich  barmaid  who  is  sexually  more  or  less  in- 
discriminate inflicts  upon  society  for  the  time  being  the 
same  sort  of  damage  as  the  notorious  prostitute;  she 
herself  deteriorates,  she  exposes  herself  to  disease,  in  the 
spread  of  which  she  is  subsequently  a factor ; she  is  there- 
fore a prostitute.  But  once  she  rehabilitates  herself,  her 
status  changes.  She  is  barmaid  now,  prostitute  no 
longer.  The  prostitution  of  European  cities  to-day  is 
characterized  by  the  abundance  of  cases  that  oscillate 
in  this  way  to  and  fro  across  the  dividing  line.  Our 
definition  must  be  capable  of  including  these  at  one  mo- 
ment, even  if  they  have  to  be  omitted  at  another. 

We  are  thus  enabled  to  understand  what  has  long 

figured  as  a mystery.  What  becomes  of  the  ordinary 

prostitute?  For  the  common  notion  that  her  expectation 

of  life  is  some  five  or  six  years,  there  is  no  basis  in 

fact  whatsoever.30  It  is  demonstrably  untrue  even  of 

Reglementeringen  I Stockholm  (Stockholm,  1913).  Table  6,  p.  62, 
shows  that  of  all  women  enrolled  between  1859  and  1884,  36.6%  left 
the  life  (sent  home,  obtained  decent  employment,  married,  etc.).  If 
this  is  so  often  the  case  with  the  lowest  type,  whose  emergence 
has  been  made  difficult,  it  must  be  far  oftener  true  of  the  clandestine 
not  branded  by  the  law.  “ Everything  points  to  the  likelihood  that, 
if  in  their  prostitution  period  they  have  succeeded  in  escaping  en- 
rolment, their  return  to  a normal  mode  of  life  is  much  facilitated.” 
Ibid.,  p.  43. 

29  Loc  cit.,  Vol.  I,  p.  584. 

30  Parent-Duchatelet  reports  {loc.  cit.,  p.  582)  two  contrary 

opinions  as  current  in  his  day  : Some  physicians  hold  that  the 

prostitute  has  a constitution  of  iron  (“  sante  de  fer”),  others  that 
she  dies  before  thirty.  Neither  view  is  sound.  Parent-Duchatelet 
himself  is  able  to  trace  the  subsequent  career  of  1,680  women  out 
of  5,081  who  were  stricken  from  the  Paris  list  during  a period  of 

21 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  avowed  professional  or  registered  continental  har- 
lot. Though  her  resistance  is  weakened,  an  early  death 
need  not  and  as  a rule  does  not  ensue.  Of  3,517  women 
inscribed  at  Paris,  Parent-Duchatelet 31  notes  that  980 
— close  to  28%  — have  been  on  the  Paris  list  longer 
than  seven  years;  and  the  Paris  list  is  neither  the  be- 
ginning nor  the  end  of  the  careers  of  most  of  the  women 
inscribed.  This  is  obvious  from  the  further  fact  that 
of  the  3,517  women  in  question,  1,269  admitted  the  prac- 
tice of  professional  prostitution  during  more  than  five 
years.32  Again,  the  average  annual  registration  of  pro- 
fessionals with  the  Paris  police  between  1888  and  1903 
was  5,549;  the  average  annual  death  rate  among  them 
was  19.33  Johansson  has  made  an  elaborate  comparison 
between  the  mortality  of  inscribed  prostitutes  and  that 
of  the  corresponding  age  groups  of  the  female  popula- 
tion of  Stockholm;  the  inscribed  women  show  the  higher 
rate,  but  by  no  means  so  large  as  is  popularly  supposed : 34 


Percentage  of  mortality 
among  inscribed  pros- 

1870-4 

75-79 

1880-4 

85-9 

90-4 

95-99 

1900-3 

titutes  

Among  corresponding 

age  groups  of  Stock- 
holm’s female  popula- 

17.1 

13.6 

14.7 

10.9 

8.4 

9.0 

7.8 

tion  

12.0 

9.1 

7.6 

6.4 

5-7 

4.8 

4-7 

The  mortality  among  the  registered  prostitutes  of 
Vienna  in  the  years  1879-1882,  inclusive,  averaged  less 

10  years.  They  returned  to  various  occupations;  probably  many  of 
those  whom  he  could  not  follow  up  did  likewise  {Ibid.,  pp.  584-5). 

31  Quoted  by  C.  K.  Schneider : Die  Prostituierte  und  die  Ges- 
ellschaft  (Leipzig,  1908)  p.  187. 

32  Loc.  cit.,  Vol  I,  p.  95. 

33  Rapports,  Conseil  municipal,  loc.  cit.,  p.  31. 

34  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol  III,  pp.105-6. 

22 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


than  y2  of  i % ; at  Berlin  for  approximately  the  same 
period  I ; 35  for  the  years  1904-6,  it  was  only 
£ of  i%.36  The  mortality  among  the  more  cautious 
women,  less  exposed  to  wind  and  weather  and  alcohol, 
is  probably  lower  still.  The  loss  to  the  Paris  registered 
list  through  death  is  negligible:  of  3,582  inscribed  women 
in  1880,  46  died  in  the  course  of  the  year;  of  4,770  a 
decade  later,  5 died;  of  6,222  in  1900,  26  died.  The 
total  loss  by  death  in  twenty  years  was  485. 37  English 
statistics,  though  bearing  less  directly  on  the  point,  es- 
tablish a similar  presumption.  Through  the  London 
Venereal  Hospital38  for  women,  some  400  patients  an- 
nually pass;  the  average  number  of  deaths  during  each 
of  the  last  twenty  years  has  been  less  than  three.  If 
there  were  10,000  prostitutes  in  London  — a low  esti- 
mate,— there  would  be  an  annual  death  rate  of  2,000, 
provided  we  assume  a five  year  lease  of  life:  yet  out 
of  790,000  women  between  18  and  35  resident  in  Lon- 
don, only  3,059  died  in  1909.  Finally,  of  the  11,823 
women  committed  to  Holloway  Jail  in  1908,  many  of 
them  prostitutes  of  over  five  years’  standing,  only  six 
died  in  the  course  of  the  year.39  The  explanation  is  to 
be  sought  in  the  fluctuating  constitution  of  the  prostitute 
army  already  pointed  out.  Prostitutes  disappear  rather 

35  J.  Schrank,  Die  Prostitution  in  Wien , two  volumes  (Wien, 
18 86),  Vol.  II,  pp.  220-2. 

36  Schneider,  loc.  cit.,  p.  39. 

37  Fiaux,  La  Police  des  Mceurs  (3  vols.  Paris,  1907,  1910)  Vol. 
Ill,  p.  658.  M.  Fiaux  is  the  most  voluminous  and  indefatigable  of 
European  writers  on  the  subject  and  his  works  are  inexhaustible 
mines  of  information  and  argument. 

38  The  Lock  Hospital ; the  term  “ Lock  ” has  no  connection  with 
“ lock-up.”  Its  meaning  is  obscure. 

39  Maurice  Gregory,  The  European  Movement  for  Abolition . 
(Tokyo,  Japan,  1912),  pp.  44~4 7- 

23 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

than  die, — a fact  of  great  practical  significance  as  we 
shall  discover;  only  a part  — it  is  uncertain  of  what  size 
— remain  prostitutes : a small  fraction  marry,  a much 
larger  fraction  return  to  work;  those  who  stick  to  the 
business  wind  up  as  the  servants  of  younger  prostitutes, 
occasionally  as  brothel-keepers;  a few  of  them  are  found 
as  aged  hags,  offering  themselves  for  a copper  coin  below 
the  bridges  of  Berlin  or  in  the  dark  corners  of  White- 
chapel. 

The  considerations  just  dwelt  on  make  anything  ap- 
proaching an  accurate  estimate  of  the  number  of  prosti- 
tutes in  a given  city  entirely  impossible.  In  the  first  place, 
because  of  the  general  flux  above  described ; in  the  second, 
because  particular  causes  — the  conditions  of  trade, 
the  season  of  the  year,  the  presence  or  absence  of  local 
festivities,  such  as  the  Wakes  and  Bank  Holiday  in  Great 
Britain,  the  October  Fest  at  Munich,  the  Carnival  at 
Cologne,40  finally,  the  varying  pressure  of  local  authori- 
ties, all  operate  to  disturb  for  better  or  worse  the  general 
movement  above  indicated.  Only  the  roughest  approxi- 
mations can  therefore  be  made  by  way  of  obtaining  an 
imperfect  picture ; and  for  the  most  part,  the  guesses  are 
not  to  be  trusted  too  far,  even  for  that  purpose.  At 
Paris,  Maxime  du  Camp  assessed  the  number  at  120,000, 
— an  estimate  that  has  by  common  consent  been  rejected 
as  manifestly  absurd;  M.  Lepine,  the  able  and  accom- 
plished ex-Prefect  of  Police,  inclines  to  a figure  varying 
from  one-half  to  two-thirds  as  large,  say  60,000  to  80,- 
000  — itself  generally  viewed  as  much  too  high,  even  on 

40  At  the  proper  time  subsequently,  these  occasions  are  always 
followed  by  a perceptible  rise  in  the  illegitimacy  curve. 

24 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


a liberal  interpretation  of  the  terms;  MM.  Yves  Guyot 
and  Augagneur,  distinguished  publicists,  estimate  30,- 
000;  41  Turot,  still  more  conservatively,  20,000;  42  Car- 
lier,  formerly  chief  of  the  municipal  police,  cuts  even 
this  moderate  estimate  down:  he  concedes  only  from 
14,000  to  17,000.  His  logic  is  worth  noting,  for  I 
shall  recur  to  a similar  method  of  calculation.  He  as- 
sumes that  for  every  clandestine  prostitute  actually  ar- 
rested for  solicitation,  intoxication,  etc.,  “ there  are  at 
least  five  or  six  more  .who  ought  to  be.”  Between  1872 
and  1888,  the  non-registered  prostitutes  arrested  averaged 
2,797  annually;  according  as  one  employs  as  multiple 
five  or  six,  the  total  would  be  13,985  or  16,782.  But  the 
method  is  not  reliable : in  the  first  place,  because  in  any 
case  the  multiple  is  probably  too  small ; in  the  second  be- 
cause the  fluctuation  in  arrests  shows  clearly  that  ar- 
rests do  not  increase  “ pari  passu  ” with  the  increase  in 
population,  while  clandestine  prostitutes  increase  still 
faster.43  There  were,  for  instance,  1,932  arrests  in  1888 
— the  last  of  the  years  considered  by  Carlier  — as 
against  3,769  in  1872,  the  first.  Moreover,  from  1888  to 
1903,  the  average  annual  arrests  numbered  2,762,  a 
slightly  smaller  figure  than  in  the  former  period.  Were 
the  method  sound,  one  must  conclude  that  clandestine 
prostitution  had  not  increased  between  1872  44  and  1903, 

41  Louis  Fiaux : La  Police  des  Mceurs  Vol.  I,  p.  160. 

42  These  estimates  deal  with  clandestine  prostitution  alone,  mean- 
ing thereby,  as  I have  already  pointed  out,  unofficial  prosti- 
tution, some  of  it  notorious,  some  concealed.  Official  or  registered 
prostitution  is  too  small  to  be  a factor  in  calculations  of  this  kind. 

43  F.  Schiller  in  Zeitschrift  II,  p.  312. 

44  Disturbed  local  conditions  might  be  assigned  as  the  explana- 
tion of  this  figure;  but  it  is  practically  repeated  in  1880,  when  the 
arrests  reached  3,544. 


25 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

despite  the  fact  that  papulation  rose  from  1,851,792  to 
2,660,559. 

An  estimate  of  80,000  was  once  current  for  London, 
— an  unquestionable  exaggeration.  The  Home  Office 
reported  in  1837  that  the  total  number  of  prostitutes 
known  to  the  police  as  living  in  houses  of  ill- fame,  walk- 
ing the  streets  and  infesting  low  neighborhoods  was  9,- 
409 ; 45  twenty  years  later  a similar  return  made  by  Sir 
Richard  Mayne,  Commissioner  of  the  Metropolitan 
Police,  based  on  detailed  reports  from  the  several  dis- 
tricts yielded  a total  somewhat  smaller,  8,600;  a decade 
later  the  number  similarly  reached  had  fallen  to  6,5 15. 46 
An  unofficial  count  recently  made  disclosed  8,000.  If 
the  figures  for  1837  and  1857  are  fairly  representative, 
the  later  ones  are  certainly  much  too  low.  The  proba- 
bilities are,  however,  that  all  these  estimates  include  only 
notorious  and  unmistakable  prostitutes,  excluding  the 
numerous  clandestines  and  partials  who  figure  in  the  con- 
tinental calculations. 

Equally  uncertain  calculations  have  from  time  to  time 
been  put  forth  respecting  other  great  cities.  Du  four 
estimated  the  clandestine  prostitutes  of  Berlin  at  50,- 
000  in  1896,  at  a time  when  just  above  four  thousand 
were  enrolled,  assuming,  that  is,  12  clandestine  for  every 
registered  woman.47  In  three  successive  years,  1889, 
1890,  1891,  the  morals  police  arrested  for  solicitation  and 
similar  offences  3,220,  3,537,  and  4,019  women  respec- 

45  Gregory,  loc.  cit.,  p.  46. 

46  William  Acton,  Prostitution  (London,  1870)  p.  4.  Acton  quotes 
also  (p.  3)  a police  estimate  of  6,371,  for  1839. 

47  P.  Pollitz:  Die  Psychologie  des  Verbrechers.  (Leipzig, 
1909)  p.  85. 


26 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


tively;  of  these,  640,  735,  and  792  respectively  were 
registered  by  the  police  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
incorrigible; 48  the  rest  were  warned  and  released,  despite 
the  fact  that  with  probably  few  exceptions  they  were  at 
the  moment  practising  professional  prostitution.49  It 
would  appear,  therefore,  that,  as  the  police  register  only 
1-5  of  those  they  arrest,  clandestine  prostitution  is  at 
least  five  times  as  extensive  as  professional ; on  this  basis 
we  must  assume  20,000  clandestine  prostitutes  for  the 
German  capital  — probably  an  underestimate,  since, 
large  numbers  of  clandestines  never  being  arrested  at  all, 
five  is  too  small  a multiple  to  employ. 

It  is  perhaps  needless  to  quote  similar  estimates  for 
other  places,  except  by  way  of  driving  home  the  enor- 
mous extent  of  the  evil,  even  if  it  can  not  be  definitely 
appraised.  The  prostitutes  of  Vienna  have  been  rated 
at  30,000,  of  Glasgow  at  17, 000, 50  of  Cologne  at  7,000, 
of  Munich  at  8,000.  The  police  records  of  Rome  show 
5,000  women  who  have  been  in  their  hands  latterly  for 
some  offence  connected  with  prostitution; 51  a Dutch 
register  in  process  of  compilation  at  police  head- 
quarters, Amsterdam,  already  contains  upwards  of  7,- 
000  names ; in  that  city  the  police  have  the  names  and  ad- 
dresses of  968  women  well  known  for  this  avocation; 52 

48  The  figures  are  official ; they  may  be  found  in  various  sources, 
e.  g.,  A.  Grotjahn,  Soziale  Pathologie  (Berlin,  1912)  p.  153. 

49  Studies  of  this  point  have  been  made  in  Paris  by  O.  Com- 
menge:  La  Prostitution  clandestine  d Paris  (Paris,  1904)  Chap. 
II. 

50  Memorandum  on  a Social  Evil  in  Glasgow , published  by 
authority  of  the  Parish  Council,  October,  1911,  p.  43.  The  Chief 
Constable  in  a report  to  the  Magistrates  Committee,  November  20, 
1911,  holds  this  estimate  to  be  a gross  exaggeration. 

61  Personally  communicated  by  Police  Brigadier. 

62  Personally  communicated  by  officials. 

27 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

in  Rotterdam  1,20 6. 5 3 For  the  German  Empire  as  a 
whole,  a not  unreasonable  calculation  of  330,000  has 
been  ventured,  side  by  side  with  a serious,  though  mis- 
taken guess  of  one  and  one  half  million.54  But  the 
only  safe  data  refer  to  the  number  of  registered  women 
and  the  number  of  arrests;  and  though  the  former  are 
confessedly  only  a small  fraction,  their  sum  total  is  it- 
self not  to  be  passed  over  lightly  from  whatever  stand- 
point the  matter  is  regarded : Paris  with  its  6,418  ( 1903), 
Berlin  with  3,559,  Hamburg  with  935,  Vienna  with 
1,689,  Budapest  with  2,000.  If  the  evil  is,  on  the  aver- 
age, only  five  times  as  extensive  as  these  figures  indi- 
cate, there  is  enough  to  be  alarmed  at,  without  a panic- 
stricken  incursion  into  the  realms  of  baseless  fancy. 

Left  to  itself  or  to  unhampered  exploitation  prostitu- 
tion seeks  everywhere  the  same  sort  of  outlets;  the  free 
professional,  the  clandestine,  the  occasional,  the  partial, 
hunt  their  prey,  openly  or  furtively,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances, in  the  crowded  thoroughfares  of  retail  trade, 
or  loiter  in  cafes  and  theater  promenades.  Having 
found  their  victim,  they  repair  to  their  own  rooms,  to 
hotels,  assignation  houses,  etc.  A large  number  avoid 
publicity  and  obtain  their  clientele  in  the  guise  of  friends 
through  introduction  or  recommendation  or  through  the 
keepers  of  rendezvous- houses,  who  arrange  appointments 
by  means  of  photographs  and  fill  orders  for  patrons  de- 
siring a person  of  particular  type.  A small  and  steadily 

53  Th.  M.  Roest  Van  Limburgh:  In  den  Strijd  tegen  de 
Ontucht.  (Rotterdam,  1910)  p.  17. 

64j  The  last  named  figures  are  quoted  by  Moll,  loc.  cit.,  p.  371. 
For  a discussion  as  to  the  probable  number  of  prostitutes  in  Ham- 
burg, see  Zeitschrift  IV,  p.  183. 

28 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 

decreasing  number  of  prostitutes  suffer  themselves  to  be 
immured  in  bordells,  i.  e.,  houses  of  prostitution  licensed 
or  authorized  by  the  police  in  certain  towns,  e.  g.,  in  Ger- 
many, France,  Austria-Hungary,  Italy,  and  in  Geneva, 
and  conducted  by  a proprietor  or  mistress  who  collects 
the  entire  income,  paying  the  inmates  a stipulated  per- 
centage. In  places  where  bordells  are  forbidden  as  well 
as  in  places  where  they  exist,  a non-licensed  and  more  or 
less  similar  establishment  has  sprung  up, — the  brothel, 
which  commonly  represents  itself  as  a boarding-place, 
where  a certain  number  of  prostitutes  have  their  own 
rooms,  pay  the  keeper  a fixed  sum  for  their  keep  and  re- 
tain whatever  else  they  earn.  Into  such  establishments 
the  police  of  Hamburg,  Bremen,  Dresden,  Cologne,  hav- 
ing the  right  to  designate  the  registered  prostitute’s 
dwelling-place,  yet  being  forbidden  to  license  bordells, 
force  as  many  of  the  women  as  they  can  lay  hold  of, — a 
violation  of  the  statute  in  spirit,  as  we  shall  shortly  per- 
ceive. In  London  and  Berlin,  the  brothel  takes  a looser 
form,  and  amounts  usually  to  nothing  more  than  the 
casual  combination  of  a few  women  who  utilize  their 
joint  premises  for  carrying  on  their  business.  It  is 
worth  noting,  as  we  pass,  though  we  shall  return  to  the 
point,  that,  whether  the  police  favor  the  licensed  bordell 
or,  by  stretching  their  authority,  force  women  into  bar- 
racks or  brothels,  a segregated  district,  into  which  the 
prostitutes  of  a city  are  confined,  exists  nowhere  in  Eu- 
rope, and  is  nowhere  supposed  to  be  either  desirable  or 
feasible.  A few  streets  — in  Hamburg  for  example,  are 
tenanted  either  only  or  almost  entirely  by  prostitutes 
under  police  pressure ; but  they  do  not  form  a district,  for 

29 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

they  are  widely  separated,  and  they  contain  in  any  event 
only  a fraction  of  the  total  number  of  local  prostitutes, 
— not  even  all  the  registered  women  of  the  city.  A 
single  street  in  Bremen  is  inhabited  altogether  by  prosti- 
tutes; but  it  is  absurd  to  speak  of  segregation  in  refer- 
ence to  seventy-five  women  in  a town  containing  hun- 
dreds of  others  living  at  large.  Elsewhere,  at  Paris, 
Rome,  Geneva,  Vienna,  Budapest,  where  the  bordells  are 
officially  recognized  and  even  favored, — they  are  scat- 
tered throughout  the  respective  cities,  no  single  street 
usually  containing  more  than  one  or  two. 

Prostitution  tends,  further,  to  associate  itself  with  the 
sale  of  alcohol;  in  consequence  of  which  loose  women 
congregate  in  low-grade  drinking  and  amusement-places, 
and  are  utilized  wherever  law  and  custom  do  not  inter- 
fere, to  assist  in  the  sale  of  drink.  I have  already  called 
attention  to  the  low  morality  of  the  barmaid  in  certain 
portions  of  the  Continent.  In  the  German  cities,  out- 
right prostitutes  are  employed  to  push  the  sale  of  drink, 
by  drinking  with  and  otherwise  entertaining  their  already 
more  or  less  intoxicated  patrons ; screened  corners  and  a 
quick  succession  of  new  faces  characterize  the  so-called 
Animierkneipe  and  American-bars,55  which  are  bit- 
terly denounced  as  perhaps  the  most  demoralizing  form 
that  prostitution  has  as  yet  assumed.  Hardly  more  than 

55  These  bars  often  advertise  “ new  service  weekly .”  A statistical 
return  on  the  waitresses  of  Berlin  shows  that  57.2%  remained  in 
one  place  three  months  or  less.  Of  1,108  cases  examined,  732  had 
more  than  six  places  in  one  year,  200  more  than  ten,  and  63 
more  than  20!  Henning,  Denkschrift  ilber  das  Kellnerinnen-Wesen 
(Berlin,  no  date)  pp.  13,  14.  See  also:  A.  Meher,  Die  geheime 
und  offentliche  Prostitution  in  Stuttgart,  etc.  (Paderborn,  1912) 
p.  133,  etc.  See  also : Das  Animierkneipenwesen  in  Frankfurt  a.  M . 
Zeitschrift  VIII,  p.  59;  also,  same  volume,  pp.  70  and  75. 

30 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


a variation  of  Animierkneipe  is  the  dance-hall,  variete, 
or  cabaret,  where  the  “ artiste  ” is  a prostitute  mingling 
freely  with  the  audience  at  the  conclusion  of  her  turn  and 
relying  largely  on  alcohol  to  make  her  way  quickly  with 
her  casual  acquaintances.  Finally,  pretended  employ- 
ments,— cigar  shops,  massage-establishments,  and  em- 
ployment agencies  illustrate  in  one  place  or  another  at 
once  the  timidity  and  the  stubbornness  of  the  phenom- 
enon; for  though  prostitution  easily  takes  fright  and 
abandons  any  one  shape  under  the  frown  of  unfavorable 
opinion  or  the  pressure  of  the  law,  it  tends  to  reappear  in 
another  guise.  We  shall  subsequently  consider  these 
efforts  to  control  or  suppress  particular  aspects  of  the 
evil,  and  their  consequences.56 

One  more  word  is  required  here  by  way  of  mere  de- 
scription. Prostitution  in  Europe  as  an  organized  busi- 
ness is  by  no  means  limited  to  the  intercourse  of  persons 
of  opposite  sexes.  A homosexual  prostitution, — pros- 
titution, that  is,  in  which  the  parties  belong  to  the  same 
sex, — has  developed  on  a considerable  scale.  Notorious 
resorts  for  those  addicted  to  homosexuality  are  to  be 
found  not  only  in  Paris  but  in  smaller  towns,  like  Ham- 
burg. Berlin  is,  however,  probably  the  main  mart.  In 
prominent  thoroughfares,  bars  exist  to  which  only  women 
resort  as  well  as  bars  to  which  no  woman  gets  access ; and 
at  intervals,  large  homosexual  balls  are  given,  attended 
only  by  persons  of  a single  sex.  I witnessed  one  such 
affair,  at  which  some  1 50  couples,  all  men,  appeared.  It 
is  estimated  that  between  1,000  and  2,000  male  prosti- 
tutes live  in  Berlin;  forty  homosexual  resorts  are  toler- 

66  See  Chapter  XI  — The  Outcome  of  European  Experience . 

31 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ated  by  the  Berlin  police;  and  it  is  reported  that  some 
30,000  persons  of  marked  homosexual  inclination  reside 
in  the  German  capital. 

The  prostitute  is  everywhere  attended  by  a comple- 
mentary phenomenon. — the  pimp,  who  lives  upon  her 
earnings,  in  return  for  which  she  is  as  a rule  treated 
with  brutality.57  The  police  estimate  that  something 
like  50%  to  90%  of  the  prostitutes  of  the  large  Euro- 
pean cities  support  men  in  this  fashion  — not  only 
the  street-walkers  and  scattered  prostitutes,  but,  not  in- 
frequently, bordell  inmates,  as  well.58  The  tie  is  easy  to 
describe,  difficult  to  understand.  No  practical  advantage 
accrues  to  the  woman,  for  in  Europe  the  pimp  affords  her 
absolutely  no  protection  against  the  police;  indeed,  the 
reverse  is  apt  to  be  the  case,  for  the  police,  tolerant  of  an 
inoffensive  prostitute  though  they  be,  are  unrelenting  in 
their  hostility  to  the  pimp  whom  they  rightly  regard  as  a 
criminal,  either  actual  or  in  the  making.  The  woman 
may  be  compromised  by  the  association;  she  certainly 
can  not  be  protected.  One  is  thrown  back  for  an  ade- 
quate explanation  on  the  fundamental  fact  of  sex  rela- 
tion. The  woman  has  no  attachment  whatsoever  with 
her  stream  of  casual  customers;  but  the  pimp  belongs  to 
her.  A vestige  of  affection,  a sense  of  property  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  the  connection ; her  blunted  sense  does  not 
revolt  from  the  price  she  pays  for  it.  This  view  is 
strongly  favored  by  the  fact  that  the  woman’s  loyalty 

57 The  pimp  is  called  “bully”  in  England,  “souteneur,”  “Louis” 
or  “Alphonse”  in  France;  “Zuhalter”  in  Germany. 

58  The  pimp  is  said  to  be  less  common  in  Scandinavia  than  else- 
where: See  Hjalmar  von  Sydow,  Om  Soutenorvasendet  in  Report, 

Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  IV,  p.  12. 


32 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


will  endure  every  strain  that  her  mate  may  put  upon  it, 
— abuse,  deprivation,  or  what  not, — every  strain,  ex- 
cept competition.  The  difficulties  of  obtaining  a convic- 
tion are  practically  insuperable  unless  jealousy  loosens 
the  woman’s  tongue.59 

Despite  the  general  similarity  to  which  I have  repeat- 
edly adverted,  there  is  a notion  current  that  prostitution 
in  Paris  is  subtly  different  from  that  in  other  great  cities, 
that  the  women  are  less  mercenary,  the  practice  less 
odious  or  repulsive.  Parisian  prostitution  enjoys  indeed 
the  glamour  of  a Bohemian  background  and  a more  pic- 
turesque tradition;  but  beyond  this  I saw  no  reason  to 
think  the  notion  well  grounded.  In  my  observation, 
prostitution  is  even  more  uniform  internally  than  ex- 
ternally: it  is  everywhere  purely  mercenary,  everywhere 
rapacious,  everywhere  perverse,  diseased,  sordid,  vulgar, 
and  almost  always  filthy.  In  her  bloom,  the  Parisian  co- 
cotte  possesses  a bit  of  Gallic  grace  and  verbal  clever- 
ness that  is  perhaps  denied  to  English,  German,  or  Scandi- 
navian women  of  the  same  class.  But  it  is  soon  brushed 
away  by  excess,  drink  and  perversion.  The  refined 
courtesan  of  the  books  is  practically  as  rare  in  Paris  as 
in  London  and  Berlin.  Pretentious  prostitution  is  indeed 
nowadays  international;  there  is  no  distinction  in  type, 
origin,  or  bearing  between  the  women  of  Monte  Carlo, 
Ostende,  the  Ambassadeurs,  or  the  Palais  de  Dance.  At 
different  times  the  same  individuals  may  be  found  in  all 
these  resorts.  At  the  lower  level,  all  is  equally  sordid 
everywhere.  The  grisette  of  the  Bal  Tabarin  is,  like 
her  English  or  German  sister,  a pathetic  figure,  whose 

59  See  pp.  96-7. 


33 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

livelier  speech  and  simulated  gaiety  does  not  hide  poverty, 
loneliness,  vulgarity,  or  the  ravages  of  overwork,  irregu- 
lar hours,  disease,  and  absinthe.  A day  at  St.  Lazare  or 
police  headquarters  — and  thither  those  who  remain 
prostitutes  eventually  come  — quickly  dispels  any  il- 
lusion one  may  entertain  on  this  score:  Holloway  Jail 
and  the  Inspection  bureaus  of  Hamburg,  Vienna,  and 
Stockholm  have  nothing  more  degraded  or  repulsive  to 
show. 

The  cost  of  prostitution,  near  and  remote,  direct  and 
indirect,  outruns  any  calculation  that  one  would  dare  to 
formulate.  Payment  for  service  varies  from  a few  cop- 
per coins  to  several  hundred  marks  or  francs;  incidental 
expense  for  accommodations,  amusements,  liquor,  gratui- 
ties, gifts,  may  double  the  immediate  outlay.  The  Berlin 
street  girl  of  fair  grade  demands  five  or  ten  marks;60 
with  her  customer  she  takes  a cab  or  taxi,  for  which  he 
pays ; they  resort  to  a hotel  or  room  of  which  she  has  the 
use  and  for  which  he  pays  perhaps  six  marks  more;  she 
demands  pin-money  for  herself,  the  maid  or  concierge. 
Money  is  the  sole  object  of  her  effort,  the  whole 
burden  of  her  talk.  “ The  Berlin  street- walker,”  writes 
Schneider,  “ immediately  asks  the  stranger  whom  she  ac- 
costs : ‘ what  will  you  give  me  ? ’ Once  at  home  with 
her,  the  bargaining  begins  anew,  for,  now  that  she  has 
him,  she  can  raise  her  demands.”  61  Impossible  as  it  is 
to  be  definite,  one  fact  stands  out:  the  prostitute  living 
at  large  is  swindled  by  every  one  who  has  dealings  with 
her:  her  landlord,  by  way  of  recompense  for  the  legal 


34 


60  $1.25  to  $2.50. 

61  Schneider : loc . cit.,  p.  32. 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


risk  he  may  run,62  the  dressmaker,  milliner,  grocer, 
butcher,  etc.  The  London  street-walker  pays  three 
guineas  in  rental  where  an  honest  family  pays  one.  Nor 
is  her  outlay  limited  to  her  own  necessities,  for  she  must 
earn  enough  to  satisfy  the  rapacity  of  her  pimp,  besides. 
Her  business  interest  and  bad  taste  lead  her  to  indulge 
in  shoddy  and  relatively  expensive  luxuries,  soon  worn 
out  or  discarded.  The  price  of  all  this,  mere  livelihood, 
extravagance,  and  rascality,  her  patrons  pay;  from  them 
every  sou  is  obtained. 

A clearer  picture  can  be  obtained  in  the  case  of 
the  bordell,  where  business  methods  prevail.63  The 
more  elaborate  of  these  establishments  represent  large 
investments.  The  latest  bordell  of  Budapest  required 
an  initial  outlay  of  500,000  crowns  ($100,000),  on 
which  a very  liberal  return  is  expected.  Fiaux  cites  a 
second-class  establishment  in  Paris  that  yields  an  annual 
profit  of  70,000  fr.  and  notes  that  the  same  proprietors 
often  run  a chain  of  houses.64  In  these  places,  a mini- 
mum price  for  service  is  usually  fixed;  entrance  fee,  tips, 
and  alcohol  are  of  course  “ extra.”  In  Paris,  the  en- 
trance fee  at  pretentious  establishments  is  20  francs; 
from  that  it  ranges  downward  as  low  as  five.  The  in- 
evitable bottle  of  wine  at  the  former  also  costs  20  francs; 
at  the  latter,  whatever  can  be  wheedled  or  coaxed.65 
Rendezvous  establishments,  incurring  greater  risk,  charge 

62  For  a shabby  room  in  Berlin,  the  author  of  the  “Diary  of  a 
Lost  One  ” (Berlin,  1905)  p.  137,  paid  180  marks  a month. 

63  The  subject  is  more  fully  discussed  in  Chapter  VI. 

QiLoc.  cit.,  p.  220.  A well-known  Berlin  resort  is  capitalized  at 
1,000,000  marks  and  has  recently  declared  a dividend  of  20%.  ( Ber- 

liner Tageblatt,  May  2,  1912.) 

65  Fiaux,  loc.  cit.,  I,  pp.  215-6,  220-221. 

35 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

correspondingly;  40  francs,  if  modish;  five,  if  utterly 
wretched.  Those  with  a carefully  guarded  clientele 
sometimes  exact  as  much  as  100  francs  ! At  Stockholm, 
the  charge  varies  from  a few  pennies  to  twenty-five 
crowns  (about  $7.50). 

In  the  long  run,  whatever  the  women  earn,  they  rarely 
have  anything  to  show  for  it.  The  bordell-keeper  plies 
them  hard  and  then  manages  to  keep  them  in  her  debt. 
Despite  the  fact  that  they  may  entertain  anywhere  from 
five  to  fifty  guests  in  twenty-four  hours,  they  do  not 
own  the  clothes  on  their  back,  when  they  make  up  their 
mind  to  leave!  Schneider  calculates  the  minimum  pay- 
ment of  a girl  for  bare  living  in  the  better  bordells 
of  Hamburg,  Leipzig,  and  Vienna  at  300  to  600  66  marks 
a month  — an  underestimate,  as  he  himself  subsequently 
avers.  Seventy-five  wretched  creatures  are  harbored 
in  the  barracks  of  Helenenstrasse,  Bremen,  independently 
of  each  other;  several  of  them  figured  out  for  me  the 
amount  they  must  earn  merely  to  live;  from  which  it 
appeared  that  10,000  marks  a year  each  barely  sufficed: 
the  first  charge  for  their  support  was  therefore  750,000 
marks!  In  the  Roman  brothels,  the  girls  must  average 
10  to  12  men  a night,  in  order  to  earn  the  high  charges 
made  for  their  keep;  in  the  lowest  resort  of  Altona,  the 
wretched  inmate  pays  75  marks  a week  for  her  mere 
board  and  lodging;  at  Dresden,  the  bordell  women  are 
charged  up  with  100  marks  a week  for  the  same  bare 
necessaries.  Among  the  common  prostitutes  of  Stock- 
holm are  found  women  who  claim  to  earn  — and  to  spend 
* — sums  ranging  from  3,000  to  12,000  crowns  annually. 

$75  tO  $150. 


Prostitution:  Definition  and  Extent 


A careful  study  was  made  by  Dr.  Lindblad  of  712  cases ; 67 
the  number  of  customers  ran  from  less  than  one  on  the 
average  daily  to  as  high  as  20  when  business  was  brisk; 
assuming  225  working  days  per  year,68  the  women  must 
have  averaged  incomes  of  $1,080  each  annually.  Of  569 
from  whom  information  could  be  obtained,  513  save  ab- 
solutely nothing,  and  only  seven  claimed  to  have  saved 
a tidy  sum.  69 

I have  spoken  thus  far  only  of  the  money  immediately 
involved, — the  sums  paid  to  the  prostitute  for  her  serv- 
ice, the  sums  paid  out  by  her  for  her  keep.  But  the  ac- 
count is  not  so  simple.  We  may  not  overlook  the  loss  in- 
volved in  the  unproductiveness  of  this  army  of  women; 
expenditure  on  alcohol,  gifts  and  demoralizing  amuse- 
ments ; the  long  score  chargeable  to  venereal  disease,  in- 
cluding the  loss  in  earnings,  the  outlay  for  treatment, 
both  of  the  immediate  victims  and  those  still  more  un- 
fortunate on  whom,  though  innocent,  some  part  of  the 
curse  and  its  cost  not  infrequently  devolves.  Upwards 
of  10,000  individuals  are  now  annually  treated  for  ven- 
ereal complaints  in  the  public  hospitals  of  Berlin  alone. 
These  are  essential  items  in  the  cost  of  prostitution.  Of 
the  total  loss  only  the  roughest  guesses  can  be  made ; but 
it  is  worth  noting  that  any  estimate  that  endeavors  to  in- 
clude all  the  factors,  direct  and  indirect,  soon  reaches  into 
the  millions.  Losch,  for  example,  has  reckoned  the  an- 
nual cost  of  prostitution  to  the  German  Empire  at  some- 

67  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  50. 

68  Prof.  Johansson  calculated  that  a woman  averages  one-fourth 
of  a year  in  hospital,  prison,  etc. 

69  Ibid,  p.  54. 


37 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

thing  between  300  and  500  million  marks.70  This  outlay 
may  be  contrasted  with  that  spent  by  the  Prussian  Gov- 
ernment on  its  entire  educational  system : its  universities, 
secondary  schools,  elementary  school  system,  technical 
and  professional  institutions  of  all  kinds  involving  a bud- 
get in  1909  of  a little  less  than  200,000,000  marks.71 
Assuredly  the  economic  burden  imposed  on  society  by 
prostitution  is  comparable  with  that  due  to  standing 
armies,  war,  or  pestilence. 

70  Quoted  by  Kampffmeyer,  loc.  cit.,  p.  34. 

71  Statistic hes  Jahrbuch  (Berlin,  1910)  pp.  242-3. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  DEMAND 

Prostitution  involves  two  parties. — Extent  of  demand  in  Europe. 
• — Theory  of  its  necessity. — Is  physiological  impulse  irresistible?  — 
Analysis  into  various  factors. — Demand  emanating  from  woman. — 
Effect  of  improvement  in  social  status. — Changed  attitude  of  medi- 
cal profession. — Reduction  of  demand  through  education. — Sex 
education  in  Europe. — Influence  of  demoralizing  literature. — Re- 
cent improvement. 

Prostitution  is  usually  described  and  discussed  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  women  involved  alone;  but  the 
problem  cannot  be  understood  so  long  as  it  is  approached 
solely  from  that  angle.  In  every  act  of  prostitution  at 
least  two  parties,  usually,  but  not  always,  of  opposite  sex, 
are  concerned.  Now  one,  now  the  other,  is  either  ini- 
tially or  more  highly  responsible.  Not  infrequently, 
however,  these  two  individuals  are  so  far  from  constitut- 
ing the  entire  situation  that  they  may  be  mere  puppets  in 
the  hands  of  others:  the  man,  the  victim  of  shrewdly  de- 
vised suggestion  or  excitement ; the  woman,  the  bait  cun- 
ningly dangled  by  pimp,  brothel-keeper,  or  publican. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  is  plainly  absurd  to  speak  of 
prostitution  as  if  it  were  only  or  even  mainly  the  act  of 
the  woman ; as  if  women  took  to  prostitution  simply  be- 
cause they  were  marked  out  for  a vicious  life  by  innate 
depravity  or  even  forced  into  it  by  economic  pressure. 
Inclination  on  the  one  hand,  need  on  the  other,  are 
among  the  factors  that  will  assist  us  to  understand  the 

39 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

problem;  but  a fundamental  and  antecedent  condition  is 
the  existence  of  a market,  clamoring  for  wares  of  a par- 
ticular kind  and  furnishing  an  opportunity  for  the  forced 
sale  of  such  wares  as  do  not  themselves  immediately  find 
buyers.  Instead,  therefore,  of  explaining  prostitution 
as  if  it  were  caused  by  certain  conditions  affecting  solely 
or  primarily  the  constitution  or  environment  of  women, 
I shall  view  it  from  the  standpoint  of  demand  and  sup- 
ply. In  utilizing  these  terms  I do  not  mean  to  imply  that 
a certain  volume  of  demand  exists,  to  begin  with,  and 
that  this  is  satisfied  and  has  to  be  satisfied  through  the 
production  somehow  of  a corresponding  supply.  We 
shall  find  that  both  demand  and  supply  are  variable  fac- 
tors. The  demand  can  within  limits  be  stimulated  or 
checked;  the  supply  can  be  increased  or  decreased;  and 
the  increase  of  supply  can  be  so  manipulated  as  to  increase 
demand.  Moreover,  a given  supply  can  be  made  to  sat- 
isfy a smaller  or  a larger  demand,  so  that  the  volume  of 
prostitution  is  a matter  not  only  of  the  number  of  those 
engaged,  but  of  the  intensity  of  their  activity.  The  two 
partners  — the  man  and  the  woman  — thus  not  only  in- 
teract on  each  other,  but  are  both  played  upon  by  agencies 
lying  outside  themselves.  This  method  will  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  demonstrating  the  interlocking  relations  of  the 
man,  the  woman,  and  the  exploiter. 

That  this  procedure  is  both  fair  and  sound  a moment’s 
consideration  will  show.  If  the  prostitution  of  women 
had  specific  causes,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  term  cause 
is  used  in  science,  then,  wherever  such  causes  are  pres- 
ent, prostitution  should  result.  There  are,  however,  no 
conditions  of  which  this  can  be  affirmed.  Of  the  number 


40 


The  Demand 


of  women  of  whom  any  particular  fact  or  set  of  facts  is 
characteristic,  only  a small  portion  ever  become  prosti- 
tutes. For  example:  prostitutes  have  often  been,  as  we 
shall  see,  domestic  servants.  Yet  service,  even  under  un- 
favorable conditions,  cannot  be  said  to  cause  prostitu- 
tion, for  more  servants  escape  than  succumb.  The  con- 
ditions of  service  at  most  indicate  whence  part  of  the 
supply  will  be  drawn.  Moreover,  once  engaged  in  pros- 
titution, the  woman  does  not  passively  wait  to  be  sought 
out  by  ungratified  spontaneous  demand ; in  order  to  earn 
her  own  livelihood  or  to  satisfy  the  cupidity  of  a third 
party,  she  proceeds  to  create  or  develop  the  demand  for 
what  she  has  to  sell.  At  every  moment  there  exists  a 
circle  of  habituated  consumers,  as  well  as  numerous 
agencies, — the  women  and  their  exploiters,  for  example, 
— actively  engaged  in  increasing  the  number  of  con- 
sumers and  the  urgency  of  their  demands.  Demand  and 
supply  thus  interact  upon  each  other  in  much  the  same 
fashion  as  characterizes  the  interplay  of  the  market  in 
reference  to  any  other  commodity.  The  application  of 
this  conception  to  the  discussion  of  prostitution  has  there- 
fore two  obvious  advantages:  it  brings  out  the  dual  na- 
ture of  the  phenomenon  and  it  suggests  the  commercial 
side  involved  in  the  production  and  maintenance  of  prosti- 
tution on  the  grand  scale. 

At  the  present  time,  the  demand  on  the  part  of  the 
continental  male  European  is  practically  universal;1  so 
true  is  this,  that  until  quite  recently  questioned,  it  has 

1 From  this  statement  England  is  purposely  excluded  for  two 
reasons:  (i)  accurate  data  covering  different  social  classes  are 
not . obtainable ; (2)  family  and  religious  life  are  so  differently  or- 
ganized that  there  is  a very  strong  presumption  that  correct  living 

41 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

been  taken  to  be  an  ultimate  and  inevitable  physiological 
fact.  Male  continence  has  not  been  required  by  either 
tradition  or  opinion.  A low  regard  for  women  has  prac- 
tically left  the  matter  one  to  be  regulated  by  men  on  such 
standards  as  they  themselves  approve.  Indulgence  be- 
gins early:  Meirowsky’s  investigations  indicate  that  at 
least  20%  of  the  boys  in  the  highest  gymnasium  classes 
are  already  habituated;  2 of  io 6 venereally  infected  Uni- 
versity students,  6i%  admitted  intercourse  before  reach- 
ing the  University.3  In  a Vienna  statistic  covering  io,- 
057  cases  of  venereal  infection,  over  one-half  were 
minors,  and  67%  under  25  years  of  age.  Prof. 
Finger,  Chief  of  the  great  Vienna  clinic,  concludes  that 
these  figures  are  actually  representative, — that  perhaps 
one-half  of  all  venereal  disease  belongs  to  the  youth  of 
both  sexes.4  Welander  found  that  of  582  Swedish  men, 
464  admitted  intercourse  before  the  end  of  the  18th 
year.5  “ In  the  country  and  in  the  urban  proletariat,  no 
one  dreams  of  continence  beyond  adolescence/’  says 
Blaschko.6  “ Among  the  working  classes,  city  or  coun- 
try, abstinence  is  excessively  rare,  and  in  the  higher 
classes,  practically  insignificant.”  7 Of  90  physicians  in- 
terrogated by  Prof.  Neisser  respecting  their  sexual  his- 
tory, only  one  denied  all  intercourse  prior  to  marriage 

is  in  certain  strata  of  society  distinctly  more  probable  than  on  the 
Continent.  Organizations  like  the  White  Cross  Societies,  and  The 
Alliance  of  Honor  testify  to  the  existence  of  sound  sentiment  and 
promote  sound  practice.  But  as  to  the  extent  to  which  continence 
prevails  I have  been  unable  to  form  a conception. 

2 Zeitschrift  XI,  p.  47. 

3 Zeitschrift  XI,  p.  5. 

4 Zeitschrift  IX,  pp.  66-68.  See  also  pp.  37-65. 

5 Zeitschrift  IX,  p.  411. 

6 Zeitschrift  XIII,  p.  154. 

7 Blaschko,  in  Zeitschrift  XIII,  p.  104. 

42 


The  Demand 


and  he  attributed  his  exemption  to  an  early  engagement 
alone;  twenty-eight,  i.  e.,  32.9%,  had  indulged  themselves 
while  still  in  the  secondary  school.8  These  figures  have 
been  confirmed  by  other  investigators.9  Beginning  thus 
early  after  puberty,  sexual  intercourse  on  the  male’s 
part  ranges  more  or  less  widely  prior  to  marriage  and  is 
none  too  severely  constrained  by  custom  even  afterwards. 
Its  practical  universality,  with  the  rare  exceptions  ex- 
plicable on  religious  or  ethical  grounds,  is  substantiated 
by  the  wide  prevalence  of  venereal  complaints. 
“Roughly  speaking,”  remarked  a distinguished  specialist, 
whose  opinion,  when  quoted  by  me  to  his  confreres  has 
rarely  been  strongly  overruled, — “ roughly  speaking, 
one  may  say  that  most  German  men  have  had  gonorrhoea, 
and  about  one  in  five  syphilis.”  10 

No  wonder  that  where  practice  is  so  general,  theory 
has  accommodated  itself  so  far  as  to  assume  that  sexual 
intercourse  on  the  male’s  part  is  necessary  and  whole- 
some. Up  to  recent  times  this  has  been  almost  undis- 
puted dogma.  The  practically  universal  demand  was  for 
centuries  regarded  fatalistically  as  inevitable  and  incon- 
testable; in  the  Middle  Ages,  a sufficient  supply  of  women 
was  imported  by  way  of  entertaining  the  delegates  to 
church  congresses.11  A change  of  attitude  and  opinion 
is,  however,  undoubtedly  taking  place.  The  universality 

8 Zeitschrift  XII,  p.  34. 

9 See  Blaschko,  Zeitschrift  XIII,  pp.  154-5. 

10  “ The  incidence  of  gonorrhea  is  estimated  at  over  100%  ; i.  e.,  on 
the  average,  every  man  has  had  it.  This  does  not  mean  that  actually 
every  man  has  had  gonorrhea,  for  if  one  person  has  had  it  six 
times,  that  would  absolve  several  others.”  F.  Pinkus : Die 
V erhutung  der  Geschlechtskrankheiten  (Freiburg,  1912)  p.  21. 

11  Bloch,  loc.  cit.,  Vol,  I,  pp.  710-712  gives  details  and  authori- 
ties. 


43 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  demand  has  been  condoned  on  the  assumption  that  it 
represented  an  irresistible  physiological  impulse.  A good 
deal  of  attention  has  been  latterly  expended  in  the  effort 
to  resolve  this  so-called  physiological  impulse  into  its  con- 
stituent elements,  with  the  following  results.  In  the  first 
place,  however  strong  the  spontaneous  sex-impulse  may 
be,  it  is  like  any  other  impulse  — capable  of  restraint 
through  the  cultivation  of  inhibitions.  Except  for  the 
futile  precepts  of  the  church,  European  society  has  for 
centuries  been  singularly  free  from  any  such  effort. 
Women  have  been  regarded  as  inferior  creatures  and 
have  contentedly  accepted  the  status  assigned  to  them. 
They  have  therefore  failed  to  resent  masculine  immoral- 
ity; the  self-restraint  that  might  thereby  have  been 
imposed  on  men  — be  it  much  or  little  — has  been  gen- 
erally lacking.  Europe  has  been  a man’s  world, — 
managed  by  men  and  largely  for  men, — for  cynical 
men,  at  that, — men  inured  to  the  sight  of  human  in- 
equalities, callous  as  to  the  value  of  lower-class  life,  and 
distinctly  lacking  in  respect  for  womanhood,  especially 
that  of  the  working-classes.  The  military,  the  aristoc- 
racy, the  student,  are  all  conceded  their  fling.  “ Dem 
Studenten  ist  ja  alles  erlaubt  — To  the  student  everything 
is  allowed.”  Where  soldier  and  scholar  freely  indulge 
themselves  without  reprobation,  it  is  too  much  to  expect 
the  artisan  to  refrain. 

Not  only  has  there  been  — up  to  recently,  at  least  — 
no  social  inhibition : there  has  been  a strong  social  com- 
pulsion. Men  swim  with  the  current;  they  fall  in  with 
accepted  habits  and  customs,  in  order  to  escape  being 
ridiculous,  and  custom  established  in  this  way  is  prac- 

44 


The  Demand 


tically  imposed  on  successive  generations.  Certain  forms 
of  venereal  experience  have  been  popularly  treated  as 
marks  of  maturity.  Dr.  Magnus  Moller  tells  of  a club  of 
military  officers  existing  in  Stockholm  in  the  early  nine- 
ties to  which  no  one  was  eligible  until  he  could  prove 
that  he  had  had  syphilis.12  Quite  as  flagrantly,  boys 
have  been  practically  coerced  into  sowing  wild  oats. 
Women,  whose  influence  might  have  been  exerted  re- 
strainingly,  have  been  trained  not  to  pry  into  the  pre- 
matrimonlal  records  of  their  husbands;  fathers  fashion 
their  sons,  as  a rule,  after  their  own  image.  Indulgence 
brought  about  in  this  way  cannot  fairly  be  characterized 
or  excused  as  physiological,  even  though,  once  experi- 
enced, it  soon  gathers  intensity  enough  to  operate  on  its 
own  account  and  to  play  the  ominous  role  of  suggestion 
to  others. 

Finally,  we  may  not  overlook  the  part  played  by  delib- 
erate excitation  on  the  part  of  the  woman  or  those  in 
whose  interests  she  works.  Prostitution  is  not  merely  a 
matter  between  man  and  woman, — the  former  overtaken 
by  a periodic  impulse  demanding  gratification,  the  lat- 
ter supporting  herself  through  the  passionless  sacrifice 
of  the  sexual  function.  Over  and  above  this,  it  is  an 
industry,  deliberately  cultivated  by  third  parties  for  their 
own  profit:  and  the  instinct  readily  lends  itself  to  arti- 
ficial exploitation.  A very  large  constituent  in  what  has 
been  called  the  irresistible  demand  of  natural  instinct 
is  nothing  but  suggestion  and  stimulation  associated  with 
alcohol,13  late  hours,  and  sensuous  amusements,  and  de- 

12  Zeitschrift  VIII,  p.  4. 

13  The  role  of  alcohol  is  described  by  O.  Rosenthal : Alkohol- 
ismus  und  Prostitution  (with  bibliography)  (Berlin,  1905).  See 

45 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

liberately  worked  up  for  the  profit  of  third  parties, — 
pimps,  tavern-keepers,  bordell-proprietors,  etc.  Street- 
walking, with  the  pimp  across  the  way  ready  to  ply 
the  lash;  the  Animierkneipe,  in  which  the  earnings  of 
the  prostitute  barmaid  are  wholly  dependent  upon  the 
extent  to  which  she  overmasters  her  guest  through 
liquor  and  otherwise ; the  bordell,  in  which  heavy  charges 
and  her  small  proportional  share  force  her  to  find  an  ex- 
tensive trade, — these  are  the  most  obvious  examples  of 
supply  deliberately  and  resourcefully  engaged  in  creat- 
ing demand.  Amid  conditions  as  they  exist  in  Paris, 
Berlin,  and  Vienna,  and  the  smaller  towns  like  Geneva 
which  aspire  to  be  world  cities  by  being  licentious,  grow- 
ing youth  is  characterized  not  by  a normal,  healthy,  and 
natural  sexual  development,  but  by  an  over-stimulated  and 
premature  sex  activity  — a purely  artificial  excitation  of 
instinct.  An  artificial  supply  of  prostitutes  is  deliberately 
created;  forced  upon  the  market  under  appropriate  con- 
ditions, an  artificial  demand  is  worked  up  to  consume  it. 
Every  tolerated  focus,  through  the  existence  of  which 
third  parties  benefit,  thus  soon  becomes  a vested  interest, 
actively  engaged  in  whipping  up  demand  and  supply,  re- 
acting upon  each  other.  Supply,  everywhere  greater 
than  spontaneous  demand,  is  utilized  to  create  a secondary 
demand.  A striking  example  of  deliberate  business  or- 
ganization along  these  lines  is  to  be  found  in  Paris  where, 
closely  adjoining  one  another  in  the  rue  Pigal  are  found 
a dance  hall,  a cafe  and  an  assignation  house  said  to 
form  a plant  under  one  management. 

also  M.  Hirschfeld:  Die  Gurgel  von  Berlin  (Berlin,  no  date) 
pp.  43,  etc. 


46 


The  Demand 


The  sex  impulse,  however  formidable  it  may  be,  is 
thus  on  close  investigation  discovered  to  be  not  the  single 
powerful  physiological  force  which  it  has  been  repre- 
sented to  be,  resistlessly  pushing  towards  an  instinctive 
object,  but  rather  a combination  of  forces  of  very  dif- 
ferent quality  as  respects  both  origin  and  intensity.  Tak- 
ing prostitution  and  resort  to  prostitution  as  they  exist  in 
any  great  city  today,  three  distinct  factors  are  readily  dis- 
tinguished : sex  impulse,  pure  and  simple ; social  instiga- 
tion or  compulsion;  sheer  artificial  excitation.  Not  im- 
probably, instinct  plays  a decidedly  less  important  part 
than  is  commonly  supposed;  much  of  what  has  been 
viewed  as  physiological  is  undoubtedly  social.  Less  than 
half  of  Neisser’s  cases  attributed  their  lapse  to  their  own 
impulse, — and  even  this  impulse  is  not  necessarily  of 
really  spontaneous  origin;  of  the  others,  28.8%  blamed 
comrades  for  dragging  them  into  trouble;  18.6%  acted 
under  alcoholic  excitement.  In  another  set  of  129  cases 
cited,  less  than  half  acted  on  native  impulse;  alcohol  fig- 
ures with  23.6%;  comrades,  with  29.4%. 14  Nor  is  na- 
tive impulse  itself  any  longer  regarded  as  a constant  or 
spasmodically  irresistible  force;  it  can  be  checked,  di- 
verted, modified,  or  stimulated.  It  becomes  stronger  with 
indulgence;  weaker  through  continued  repression. 

For  the  reasons  above  given,  demand  is  no  longer 
spoken  of  as  if  it  were  a constant  quantity  determined 
at  any  given  time  and  place  by  the  ultimate  constitution 
of  human  nature  and  unalterable  except  by  transforma- 
tion of  the  character  of  the  race;  just  as  it  is  equally  ab- 
surd to  speak  in  fatalistic  terms  of  the  supply.  Not  a 

47 


14  Zeitschrift  XI,  pp.  6 and  60. 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

single  factor  in  either  demand  or  supply  bears  this 
rigid  elemental  stamp ; every  factor  is  capable  of  mitiga- 
tion or  aggravation  by  human  decisions,  institutions, 
habits,- — some  of  them,  indeed,  more  or  less  readily  so. 
“ Human  nature  ” — so-called  — is  not  the  whole  of  it, 
in  the  sense  in  which  the  expression  is  commonly  used. 
Indeed,  human  nature  itself  may  be  made  better  or  worse 
by  opinion,  inhibition,  suggestion,  example.  Unques- 
tionably, do  what  we  will,  a problem  — a vast  problem 
— will  remain ; but  it  is  an  enormous  gain  to  have  learned 
that  a considerable  volume  of  prostitution  and  of  the 
demand  for  prostitution  is  the  product  of  conditions  that, 
however  difficult  the  task,  are  within  limits  socially  con- 
trollable. 

One  must  not,  of  course,  overlook  the  fact  that  de- 
mand does  not  simply  take  the  form  of  the  male  seeking 
or  being  induced  to  seek  the  female.  The  seeker  is 
sometimes  the  woman  herself,  bent  upon  her  own  gratifi- 
cation. Her  own  effort  may  thus  succeed  in  increasing 
demand.  It  is  impossible  to  say  with  what  frequency 
male  irregularity  is  thus  provoked.  Of  Meirowsky’s 
102  first  offenders,  29.4%  attributed  their  lapse  to  the 
seductive  influence  of  comrades,  part  of  whom  were 
girls ; of  28  physicians  whose  first  offence  occurred  while 
still  at  school,  over  one-half  blamed  themselves  wholly; 
three  of  them  threw  the  initial  blame  on  girls,  all  of 
whom  were  servants.  But  the  overwhelming  majority 
of  women  involved  in  provocation  are  open  or  concealed 
prostitutes. 

The  fact  just  stated  throws  an  interesting  light  on  the 
possibility  of  reducing  immorality  through  the  cultiva- 

48 


The  Demand 


tion  of  social  inhibitions.  We  learned  in  the  preceding 
chapter  that  under  the  natural  conditions  that  obtain  in  the 
country  and  in  certain  sections  of  the  urban  working- 
classes,  girls  are  sometimes  equally  responsible  partners 
in  sexual  irregularity.  Clan  morality  does  not  forbid; 
we  may  assume,  therefore,  that  not  infrequently  the 
woman  indulges  her  passion  precisely  as  the  man  indulges 
his.  But  the  moment  that  improved  social  or  economic 
position  brings  her  under  the  range  of  more  exacting 
ideals,  she  checks  herself.  The  first  consciousness  of  the 
higher  requirement  results  in  decidedly  reducing  the  scope 
which  she  allows  to  her  impulse.  It  is  perhaps  true  that 
self-restraint  is  actually  easier  for  women  than  for 
men ; 15  but  it  is  at  any  rate  not  achieved  without  effort. 
It  is  therefore  not  without  significance  that  the  social  sanc- 
tion, as  yet  but  slightly  operative  among  men,  is  among 
women  of  the  higher  classes  very  generally  powerful 
enough  to  reverse  the  animal  engine.  Unhappy  con- 
sequences to  health  are  alleged,  and  doubtless  sometimes 
occur;  but  they  are  a lesser  evil  than  disgrace,  disease 
or  pregnancy  and  are  endured  as  such. 

The  analysis  of  demand  as  above  outlined  has  al- 
ready borne  consequences  both  theoretical  and  practical. 
In  the  first  place,  it  has  accomplished  a striking  change 
in  medical  opinion  as  to  the  necessity  of  sexual  inter- 
course and  the  supposedly  unfavorable  results  of  con- 
tinence. Recent  medical  literature  abounds  in  strong 
and  authoritative  expressions  utterly  at  variance  with 
the  traditional  position.  Cases  of  irrepressible  desire  are 

15  See  Iwan  Bloch:  Das  Sexmlleben  unserer  Zeit  (Berlin,  1909) 

p.  91. 


49 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

stamped  as  pathological,  rather  than  normal ; as  relatively 
rare,  rather  than  usual  or  even  frequent.  Continence 
is,  in  general,  increasingly  regarded  as  both  feasible  and 
wholesome.  “ I am  convinced  that  the  overwhelming 
majority  of  persons  are  not  in  the  least  injured  by  con- 
tinuous continence  whether  during  youth  or  afterwards,” 
writes  Moll.  “ The  longer  one  is  continent,  the  more 
readily  is  continence  borne,  the  less  is  one  annoyed  by 
the  sexual  impulse.”  16  Moll  insists  that,  even  in  cases 
where  neurotic  disturbances  occur,  these  are  not  com- 
parable to  the  damage,  corporal  and  moral,  which  at- 
tends irregular  intercourse  — and  of  course  it  always  re- 
mains to  be  proven  that  the  disturbances  in  question 
really  result  from  abstinence.  Pinkus,  conceding  that  oc- 
casionally depressing  symptoms  attend  self-restraint, 
points  out  that  “ the  annoyances  arising  from  abstinence 
are  far  from  being  such  serious  psychic  disturbances  as 
are  produced  by  the  knowledge  that  one  has  contracted 
venereal  disease : under  which  conditions  abstinence  must 
be  practised  anyway.”  17  “ There  is  not  a shadow  of 

proof  to  show  that  continence  is  damaging  to  health. — To 
the  continent,  continence  becomes  progressively  easier,”18 
“ Whatever  disturbances  are  attributable  to  sexual  ab- 
stinence, they  are  usually  non-progressive  and  are  for 
the  most  part  remediable  through  hygienic  and  therapeutic 
measures.  On  the  other  hand,  the  damages  done  through 
intimacy  with  prostitutes  far  overshoot  in  number  and 
gravity  any  harm  attributable  to  continence.”  19  Exceed- 

16  Moll,  loc.  cit,  p.  887.  See  also  pp.  945,  etc. 

17  Felix  Pinkus,  loc.  cit.,  p.  177. 

18  M.  von  Gruber,  Die  Prostitution  (Wien,  1905)  p.  40,  etc. 

19  Zeitschrift  XIII,  p.  46;  see  also  III,  p.  255. 

50 


The  Demand 


ingly  cogent  is  Touton’s  curt  summary:  “ In  short,  all 

the  talk  about  manifestations  due  to  abstinence  is  thus  far 
with  few  exceptions  a hodge-podge  of  superficial  ob- 
servations and  uncritical  interpretations.” 20  Again : 
“ Altogether  healthy  men,  sexually  normal,  can,  without 
danger  of  illness,  for  the  most  part  get  along  far  into 
maturity  without  sexual  intercourse,  if  they  do  not  pur- 
posely excite  themselves  or  if  temptation  is  not  pressed 
upon  them,  especially  so,  if,  instead  of  such  stimulation, 
they  resort  to  moderate  exercises  and  adequate  mental 
employment.  The  idler  cannot  remain  continent.” 21 
Johansson  urges  that  through  the  cultivation  of  an  in- 
hibitory mechanism,  the  impulse  can  be  limited,  and  sub- 
ordinated to  the  welfare  of  the  individual  and  of  so- 
ciety.22 

There  is  no  livelier  topic  under  discussion  in  connection 
with  prostitution  than  that  of  the  methods  to  be  pur- 
sued in  order  to  minimize  demand,  in  accordance  with 
the  modern  scientific  view  that  irregular  sexual  inter- 
course is  a reducible  evil.  The  fact  that  “ appetite  grows 
by  what  it  feeds  on  ” pleads  strongly  for  timely  action. 
Instruction,  with  special  reference  to  sex-physiology,  has 
therefore  been  widely  and  confidently  urged  as  the  means 
of  acquainting  childhood  and,  later,  youth,  with  the  es- 
sential facts  of  sex-physiology,  so  as  to  deprive  the  facts 
of  morbid  interest  and  to  warn  the  child  of  the  dangers 

20Touton,  quoting  Troemner’s  report  at  the  Dresden  Conference, 
1911,  Zeitschrift  XII,  p.  412.  See  also  X,  p.  211;  for  the  opposite 
point  of  view,  see  Zeitschrift  XIII,  pp.  82,  etc.,  92,  etc.;  also,  Max 
Marcuse,  Das  Liebesleben  des  deutschen  Studenten  ( Sexual-Prob - 
leme  Nov.  1908)  ; also,  Zeitschrift  XI,  pp.  81  and  129. 

21  Zeitschrift  XIII,  p.  70. 

22  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  214. 

51 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

attending  uncleanliness.  It  will  be  worth  while  to  give 
a brief  account  of  what  has  taken  place  in  this  direc- 
tion in  Europe  and  to  consider  what  benefit  is  likely  to 
be  derived  from  this  source. 

Despite  the  prevalent  notion  to  the  contrary,  the  sub- 
ject of  sex-education  is  as  yet  very  largely  in  the  realm 
of  theory  or  controversy.  As  to  this  point,  a strange 
misconception  obtains.  In  England,  one  hears  that  great 
progress  has  been  made  in  this  field  in  Germany;  in 
Germany  one  is  referred  with  equal  positiveness  to 
Scandinavia;  in  Scandinavia  to  Finland,  whither,  how- 
ever, I did  not  pursue  the  will-o’-the  wisp.  The  facts  are 
these : 

No  recognition  is  given  to  sex-instruction  in  English 
schools  at  all.23  The  head-masters  and  house-masters  in 
some  of  the  great  public  schools, — notably  Eton, — en- 
deavor, however,  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the  boys  in- 
dividually, to  put  them  on  their  guard  and  to  assist 
them  if  in  distress.  A series  of  leaflets  has  been  issued 
by  the  church  schools  for  the  guidance  of  parents,  who 
are  urged  to  open  the  subject  with  their  sons  at  the 
proper  time.24  In  Prussia,  which  is  representative  of 
the  States  of  the  German  Empire,  sex-instruction  of  any 
kind  is  very  rarely  given  at  the  popular  schools ; 25  in 
the  Gymnasien, — the  nine-year  secondary  schools  open- 

23  “ In  this  grave  matter,  so  timid  and  divided  is  public  opinion, 
that  I have  to  be  practically  silent,  ‘ letting  I dare  not,  wait  upon  I 
would.’  ” John  Russell,  in  “ Can  the  School  Prepare  for  Parent- 
hood?” (Eugenics  Education  Society,  1909)  p.  4. 

24  “ Papers  for  Boys,”  with  a preface  by  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury (To  be  had  through  the  Editor,  the  Headmaster  of  Dover 
College,  Dover,  for  6d.). 

25  Frankfort-on-the-Oder  is  one  of  the  few  places. 


52 


The  Demand 


in g into  the  University, — a lecture  on  the  subject  may  be 
given  to  the  last  year  class  26  by  the  School  Director,  a 
teacher  or  a physician;  27  attendance  on  the  part  of  the 
students  is  optional.  The  lectures  deal  with  the  feasi- 
bility of  continence,  which  is  strongly  urged,  the  dangers 
attending  sexual  irregularity  or  abnormality,  and  the  mis- 
use of  alcohol;  at  times  they  are  printed  and  circulated. 
During  the  school  year  1911,  such  lectures  were  given 
at  76  Gymnasien  out  of  a total  of  almost  800.  Similar 
talks  are  given  at  institutions  for  the  training  of  teach- 
ers. Occasionally  pupils  before  leaving  school  are  pre- 
sented with  books  dealing  with  the  topic  in  a wholesome 
manner.  This  represents  the  sum  total  of  school  in- 
struction on  the  subject  in  Prussia;  additional  lectures, 
of  an  occasional  character  are  provided  for  parents, 
artisans,  etc.,  by  local  branches  of  the  German  Society 
for  the  Suppression  of  Venereal  Disease.  In  Denmark 
and  Norway,  nothing  either  of  a general  or  a compulsory 
character  exists;  Sweden  practically  repeats  Prussia,  of- 
fering no  instruction  in  popular  schools,  an  optional 
lecture  to  last  year  students  in  the  higher  secondary 
schools,  particularly  those  for  girls,  in  the  discretion  of 
the  head-master  or  head-mistress.  Systematic  or  gen- 
eral instruction  has  developed  as  yet  nowhere  in  Europe. 
The  educational  officials  of  both  Prussia  and  Sweden 
distinctly  hold  that  under  existing  conditions  the  prob- 
lem is  one  for  the  home,  not  the  school.  France  is  at 

26  The  so-called  “ Abiturienten,”  who  are  about  to  enter  the  Uni- 
versity. Whatever  these  addresses  accomplish,  the  amount  of 
venereal  disease  found  among  Gymnasium  students  would  show  that 
the  efforts  are  too  late. 

27  It  has  been  objected  to  physicians  that  they  over-emphasize 
prophylaxis. 


53 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  same  stage  of  development.  A memorandum  on  the 
subject  has  been  submitted  to  the  ministry  of  education, 
but  no  official  action  has  been  taken. 

In  view  of  the  paucity  of  our  experience,  much  of  the 
literature  on  the  subject  strikes  the  observer  as  perhaps 
promising  too  much  from  mere  diffusion  of  knowledge. 
Undoubtedly  it  is  beyond  all  question  that  no  boy  or 
girl  ought  to  be  permitted  to  err  through  sheer  igno- 
rance. But  it  does  not  follow  that  fuller  and  clearer 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  growing  boy  and  girl 
will  itself  effectively  restrain;  not  only  knowledge,  but 
knowledge  suffused  with  ethical  emotion  is  requisite.28 
By  prematurely  creating  images  and  stimulating  curiosity 
both  of  which  go  further  than  the  immediate  communica- 
tions on  the  topic,  knowledge  alone  may  either  originate 
or  increase  the  danger.  Inhibition  is  unquestionably 
possible  and  it  must  be  educationally  brought  about;  but 
it  involves  not  only  a certain  amount  of  intelligence  on 
the  child’s  part,  but  control  of  impulse  through  loyalty  — 
instinctive  or  deliberate  — to  precept  and  example.  As 
the  boy  matures,  the  actual  dangers  involved  in  immoral- 
ity may  be  so  depicted  as  to  exert  a deterrent  effect; 

28  Among  the  German  writers  who  have  emphasized  this  point 
are  F.  W.  Foerster,  Sexualethik  und  Sexualpddagogik  (Munich, 
1910),  and  Julian  Marcuse,  Grundsuge  einer  sexuellen  Pddagogik 
(Munich,  1908).  The  latter  says  with  great  vigor:  “It  were  a dis- 

astrous blunder  to  suppose  that  intellectual  enlightenment  in  refer- 
ence to  matters  of  sex  is  alone  capable  of  preventing  error  and 
damage ; the  natural  impulse  is  far  too  forceful  to  be  mastered  by 
mere  knowledge  of  these  things.  Nay,  helpful  knowledge  must  be 
accompanied  by  training  of  the  feelings,  discipline  of  the  will, 
things  of  infinitely  greater  importance  than  sheer  enlightenment, 
both  of  which  are  foundations  for  sexual  instruction  that  must  be 
provided  for.”  p.  38. 


The  Demand 

but  the  main  reliance  must  continue  to  be  upon  the 
higher  motivation. 

The  importance  of  emotional  and  ethical  training  sug- 
gests the  importance  of  the  home  in  this  connection. 
Foreign  opinion  is  well-nigh  unanimous  in  recommend- 
ing that  parents  initiate  the  subject  at  the  psychological 
moment, — a moment  that  is  rarely  the  same  for  two  in- 
dividuals; subsequently  the  school  can  make  its  contri- 
bution, though  there  is  as  yet  no  agreement  as  to  the 
form  or  the  time.29  Some  urge  that  it  be  the  natural  out- 
growth of  general  biological  instruction ; 30  some  favor 
class  teaching,  others  individual  instruction;  an  occa- 
sional writer  contends  that,  while  boys  should  be  urged 
to  continence,  they  should  also  be  taught  the  use  of  pre- 
ventives since  it  is  well  known  in  advance  that  they  will 
not  obey ! 31 

The  practical  difficulties  are,  however,  very  great. 
The  researches  of  Moll  and  others  indicate  that  sexual  in- 
stinct and  curiosity  awaken  at  different  stages  in  dif- 
ferent children;  something  depends  on  the  constitution 
of  the  individual  child,  something  on  the  environment. 
Moreover,  the  parents  of  the  children  most  dangerously 
exposed  are  very  often  those  who  are  most  incapable  of 
managing  the  situation.  A little  later,  when  the  school 

29  “ In  my  judgment,  the  friends  of  sexual  enlightenment  have  not 

yet  succeeded  in  devising  a satisfactory  way  of  approaching  chil- 
dren.” P.  Groebel,  Sexualpddagogik  (Hamburg,  1909)  p.  1.  As  an 
example  of  what  is  proposed  for  German  schools,  see  Konrad 
Hoeller:  Die  Sexualfrage  und  die  Schule  (Leipzig,  1907)  pp.  45, 

etc. 

30  Expressly  forbidden  in  Prussia. 

81  “ I regard  it  as  best  to  mention  the  safety  devices  in  school, 
because  I cannot  hope  that  my  injunctions  to  continence  will  be 
heeded  by  all  my  pupils.”  Groebel,  loc.  cit.,  p.  15. 

55 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

might  intervene,  the  difficulty  due  to  individual  differ- 
ences has  not  disappeared  and  additional  problems  have 
also  arisen.  Class  instruction  disregards  individual  vari- 
ations and  requires  the  greatest  tact  and  skill  in  presen- 
tation ; the  teachers  are  as  yet  incompetent ; 32  physicians 
lay  as  a rule  too  much  stress  on  disease  and  on  mere 
knowledge,  and  are  as  a rule  clumsy  and  ineffective  or 
skeptical  respecting  the  ethical  side,  without  which  such 
understanding  of  the  subject  as  may  be  brought  about 
is  apt  to  be  of  slight  value.  The  danger  that  lurks  in 
tabooing  or  avoiding  the  subject  has  been  clearly  demon- 
strated; but  there  is  danger,  too,  in  breaking  down  re- 
serve. The  more  explicit  the  intellectual  aspects  of  the 
matter  are  made,  the  more  important  does  it  become 
to  insist  that  the  mere  communication  of  the  facts  can- 
not possibly  alone  attain  the  end  toward  which  the  move- 
ment looks.  The  girl  must  develop  character  enough  to 
resist  easy  demoralization;  the  boy,  character  enough  to 
subdue  rebellious  impulse. 

Still  later,  when  boys  are  about  to  leave  the  Gym- 
nasium — and  therewith  their  homes  — in  order  to  enter 
upon  the  freedom  of  University  life  in  strange  towns, 
candid  talks  to  whole  classes,  laying  particular  stress 
upon  the  penalties  attached  to  immorality,  can  be  indeed 
given,  as  from  time  to  time  they  are.  But,  unless  effec- 
tive training  on  higher  lines  has  begun  long  before,  the 
good  to  be  achieved  is  of  dubious  extent : witness  the  prev- 
alence of  venereal  disease  among  last  year  Gymnasium 

32  A textbook  for  use  in  training  teachers  to  give  sex-instruction 
has  recently  appeared  in  Swedish : Julia  Kinberg  och  Alma  Sund- 
quist — Handledning  i Sexuell  Undervisning  och  Uppfostran  (Stock- 
holm, 1910). 


56 


The  Demand 


and  first  year  University  students,  and  the  rapid,  even  if 
passing,  demoralization  characteristic  of  the  latter. 

The  educational  situation  in  reference  to  sex  hygiene 
may  then  be  concisely  put  as  follows : little  progress  has 
been  anywhere  made  in  actual  instruction ; decided  benefit 
is  to  be  hoped  for  only  where  increase  of  knowledge  is 
accompanied  by  increase  of  self-control — -by  loyalty, 
conscious  and  unconscious,  to  higher  ideals  of  personal 
behavior. 

I have  mentioned  above  the  factors  and  influences  that 
tend  artificially  to  develop  demand.  Whatever  makes 
prostitution  prominent,  easy,  attractive,  seductive,  un- 
questionably operates  to  increase  demand.  By  the  same 
token,  measures  that  deprive  prostitution  of  prominence, 
facility,  attractiveness,  seductiveness,  reduce  demand,  or, 

— what  amounts  to  the  same  thing  — hinder  its  artificial 
increase.  In  the  modern  city,  many  conditions  make, 
some  purposely,  some  incidentally,  for  the  stimulus  of 
sex  appetite:  glitter,  luxury,  the  mad  rush  for  amuse- 
ment, the  stage,  the  cafe,  the  tavern, — all  assist  in  the 
early  maturity  of  the  sex  function,  the  exercise  of  which 
they  also  facilitate.  With  many  of  the  artifices  that 
have  been  employed  to  develop  prostitution  as  a business 
conducted  for  the  profit  mainly  of  third  parties,  I shall 
deal  in  other  chapters.33  But  certain  of  them  may  prop- 
erly be  considered  in  this  connection. 

A by  no  means  negligible  factor  in  stimulating  appetite 
are  erotic  books,  prints,  etc.  Obscene  objects  of  this 
character  are  frequently  circulated  in  secret  in  schools, 

— girls’  as  well  as  boys’ ; occasionally  they  are  even  ad- 

33  E.  g.,  pimp,  pp.  95,  etc. ; bordells,  chap.  VI ; alcohol,  pp.  98,  etc. 

57 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

vertised  under  more  or  less  deceptive  titles.  In  recent 
years  active  efforts  have  been  made  to  stamp  out  this 
nefarious  trade.  An  international  agreement  has  been 
arrived  at,  according  to  the  terms  of  which  the  police  de- 
partments of  the  nations  who  are  parties  thereto  co- 
operate in  ferreting  out  publishers  and  importers  of  im- 
moral publications  and  in  endeavoring  to  bring  them 
to  justice.  In  France,34  Germany,35  Austria  and  else- 
where popular  societies  have  been  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  making  war  on  pornography;  laws  have  been  strength- 
ened and  ministerial  decrees  emitted,  establishing  special 
police  bureaux  to  handle  offenders.36  The  kinemato- 
graph  is  the  most  recent  invention  open  to  abuse  in  this 
direction;  to  forestall  which,  inspection  of  films  has  al- 
ready been  introduced  at  police  headquarters  in  Berlin. 
Many  congresses,  national  and  international,  held  in  re- 
cent years,  are  evidence  of  a growing  determination  to 
stop  the  artificial  and  premature  excitation  of  sex  de- 
mand through  immoral  books,  pictures,  plays  and  other 
representations.  The  total  laxity  which  once  prevailed 
has  been  checked  and  increasing  restraint  may  be  looked 
for,  as  public  opinion  is  educated  to  require  and  to  sus- 
tain it.37  For  even  where  laws  exist,  their  enforcement 

34  Federation  francaise  des  Societes  antipornographiques. 

35  V olksbund  zur  Bekdmpfung  des  Schmutzes  in  Wort  und  Bild. 

36  In  Austria,  July  31,  1912  ; in  Bavaria,  March  6,  1906,  supple- 
mented June  3,  1912;  in  Prussia,  December  28,  1911. 

37  The  literature  on  the  subject  in  German  is  already  very  ex- 

tensive. As  containing  data  of  all  kinds,  I may  specify  the  follow- 
ing: Bohn,  Materialien  zur  Bekdmpfung  der  unsittlichen  Literatur 

— ein  kulturgeschichtliches  Denkmal  fur  die  deutsche  Presse, 
(Berlin,  1905).  Berichte  der  ausserdeutschen  und  deutschen  Be- 
richterstatten,  (Congress  held  at  Cologne,  1904)  (Berlin,  1905).  E. 
Schultze,  Die  Schundliteratur  (Halle,  1911)-  A monthly  periodi- 
cal dealing  with  the  problem  in  all  its  aspects  is  issued  in  Berlin; 
it  is  called  Die  Hochwacht,  is  edited  by  Professor  Karl  Brunner 

58 


The  Demand 


depends  on  the  vigor  and  sympathy  of  police  officials 
and  magistrates,  who,  in  the  interpretation  of  the  stat- 
ute, in  some  measure  take  their  cue  from  the  news- 
papers and  popular  opinion.  In  a recent  London  case, 
a Bow  Street  Magistrate  convicted  a bookseller  for  dis- 
posing of  a book,  of  which,  in  imposing  punishment, 
he  stated  that  nothing  “ more  foul  or  filthy  ” had  been 
found  in  London  in  a long  time.  Subsequently  another 
case,  involving  the  same  book,  was  brought  into  court; 
and  in  the  latter  instance,  the  culprit  was  acquitted.38 
In  Germany,  the  laws  — long  since  fairly  adequate  — 
were  for  years  a dead-letter;  but  recent  agitation  has 
already  had  a noticeable  effect.  Curiously  enough,  the 
most  decisive  action  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  is 
feasible  only  in  countries  where  the  liberty  of  the  press 
is  most  firmly  established:  for  only  in  countries  thor- 
oughly free  in  spirit  will  the  public  deliberately  impose 
limitations  on  itself  without  fear  that  such  restrictions 
may  ultimately  be  abused  to  serve  other  ends  than  those 
originally  intended. 

Though  no  quantitative  evidence  of  improving  moral- 
ity can  be  given,  the  various  movements  above  touched 
on  supply  proof  that  opinion  is  undergoing  a change 
which  must  in  the  end  affect  conduct.  I was  indeed 

and  published  by  the  Ulrich  Meyer  Verlagsbuchhandlung.  Sum- 
maries of  all  legislation  bearing  on  the  topic  are  found  in : Be- 

kdmpfung  der  Schundliteratur  — Flugschrift  der  Zentralstelle  fur 
V olkswohlfahrt  (Berlin,  1911).  Roeren,  Die  Gesetzgebung  gegen  die 
unsit tliche  Literatur  in  den  verschiedenen  Ldndern  (Berlin,  1905.) 
A Blue  book  on  the  subject  has  also  been  issued  by  the  English 
government.  It  is  called:  Report  from  the  Joint  Select  Committee 
on  Lotteries  and  Indecent  Advertisements  (London,  1908). 

38  Some  explanation  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  statute  does  not 
define  indecency. 


59 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

assured  that  a change  is  already  perceptible  to  those 
whose  knowledge  spans  a sufficiently  great  period  of  time. 
Custom  once  practically  constrained  the  French  student 
in  the  Latin  quarter  to  swim  with  the  current ; now  it  has 
become  possible  to  lead  a blameless  life  without  incur- 
ring contempt  for  his  idiosyncrasy;  an  impassioned  lit- 
erature appealing  to  the  German  student  has  made  its 
appearance.39  The  woman’s  movement  will  unques- 
tionably destroy  the  passivity  of  German  women  in  re- 
spect to  masculine  irregularities.  The  task  of  develop- 
ing continence  in  nations  habituated  to  indulgence  is 
one  of  inexpressible  difficulty;  but  it  may  be  fairly  said 
that  now  for  the  first  time  it  has  been  deliberately  faced 
on  the  Continent  by  a small,  but  earnest  band  of  men 
and  women  bent  upon  the  purification  of  the  sexual  life. 

39  For  example : Hans  Wegener,  Wir  jungen  Manner  (Dussel- 
dorf,  1906). 


60 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  SUPPLY 

Relation  of  demand  and  supply. — Demand  increased  by  forcing 
supply. — Supply  derived  mainly  from  lower  working  classes. — Oc- 
cupations of  parents. — Occupations  of  women  themselves. — Is  the 
prostitute  a born  degenerate? — Importance  of  the  milieu. — Effect  of 
loosening  home  ties. — Broken  homes. — Demoralization  of  minors. — 
Unmarried  mothers. — Influence  of  bad  example. — Economic  pres- 
sure.— Low  and  irregular  wages. — Perilous  employments. — Efforts 
to  improve  conditions. — Rescue  work. — Volume  of  supply. — Forced 
supply. — White  slavery. — Employment  agencies. — The  pimp,  bars, 
variety  theaters,  etc. — Rescue  and  preventive  work. — Supply  capa- 
ble of  modification  through  laws  and  social  conditions. 

The  supply,  which  after  a fashion  responds  to  the 
demand  just  described,  must  be  considered  from  three 
distinct  points  of  view:  its  sources,  its  volume,  its  re- 
action on  demand  itself.  On  the  face  of  it,  the  gen- 
eral relation  of  demand  and  supply  appears  simple  and 
mechanical:  a demand  exists;  somehow,  thereupon,  a 
supply  springs  up  to  meet  it.  The  demand  thus  recog- 
nized, a moving  equilibrium  is  established.  Unques- 
tionably, as  the  situation  now  stands,  prostitution  to  a 
certain  extent  illustrates  this  purely  mechanical  concep- 
tion. There  is  a demand  of  such  strength  and  upon 
such  terms  that  a supply  is  forthcoming:  in  so  far  as 
this  particular  demand  is  concerned,  outright  efforts 
simply  to  deny  its  satisfaction  would  for  the  most  part 
lead  to  higher  bidding  or  to  circuitous  methods  of  grati- 
fication. Demand  itself  must  be  affected  before  this  sit- 

61 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

nation  can  be  essentially  or  fundamentally  altered. 
There  is  also  a supply  on  hand,  which  will  employ  a high 
degree  of  ingenuity  to  bring  itself  into  relation  with  ac- 
tual or  potential  demand.  But,  after  all,  however  im- 
portant, this  is  only  one  aspect  of  the  problem.  The 
modern  merchant,  in  whatever  commodity  he  may  deal, 
is  a practical,  if  not  a trained,  psychologist.  He  knows 
that  appetite  not  only  exists,  but  may  be  both  created 
and  developed:  that,  in  the  absence  of  strong  restraint, 
supply  can  be  worked  up  to  almost  any  extent;  and  that 
there  is  no  more  efficient  way  to  manufacture  and  to 
develop  demand  than  to  crowd  supply  in  an  attractive 
form  upon  the  possible  buyer’s  attention,  when  he  is 
most  amenable  to  suggestion  of  the  requisite  kind. 
True  of  every  article  of  commerce,  be  the  need  for  it 
native  or  acquired,  this  principle  is  nowhere  more  valid 
than  in  respect  of  a vice  that  starts  with  a tremendously 
powerful  momentum,  and  is  easily  susceptible  of  still 
further  stimulation.  The  volume  of  the  business  is, 
moreover,  not  only  a question  of  the  number  of  women 
engaged  in  it,  but  of  the  intensity  with  which  the  voca- 
tion is  plied.  A thousand  women  may  consort  with  a 
thousand  men  in  the  course  of  a night;  or,  conditions 
favoring,  they  may  entertain  five  or  ten  times  that  num- 
ber. The  definition  adopted  in  the  preceding  chapter 
looked  ahead  to  precisely  this  fact, — a fact  that  will 
become  increasingly  important  as  we  proceed.  For 
prostitution  represents  not  only  the  periodic  coming  to- 
gether of  demand  and  supply;  it  represents  also  the  ex- 
ploitation of  artificial,  instigated  appetite  and  over- 
worked supply.  The  prostitute  may  indeed  satisfy  her 

62 


The  Supply 

own  or  another’s  passion ; but  there  is  no  passion  in  the 
sexual  drudgery  which  as  a rule  she  performs.  So  far 
then  from  dealing  with  a simple  natural  or  mechanical 
process  of  satisfaction,  demand  and  supply  in  this  matter 
tend  to  display  rather  more  than  the  complications  and 
interrelations  characteristic  of  enterprise  in  general. 

The  most  striking  fact  in  connection  with  the  source 
of  supply  is  its  practically  total  derivation  from  the 
lower  working-classes,  and  mainly  the  unmarried  women 
of  those  classes.1  The  victims  come  in  a highly  pre- 
ponderant ratio  from  this  definitely  circumscribed  milieu. 
Half  a century  ago,  Parent-Duchatelet,  studying  their 
social  origins,  found  that  Parisian  prostitutes  are  re- 
cruited well  nigh  exclusively  from  artisan  families; 
among  828  fathers,  there  was  a bare  sprinkling  of  better- 
conditioned  men.2  These  conditions  still  obtain.  Of 
11,413  women  prisoners  incarcerated  during  several 
years  in  Milbank  prison,  10,646  were  the  daughters  of 
working-men,  or  the  equivalent;  544,  of  small  shop-keep- 
ers; 128,  of  professional  men;  82,  of  small  officials;  13, 
of  gentlemen.3  Of  565  Stuttgart  women,  the  fathers 
were,  in  172  instances,  artisans;  in  84  instances,  day 
laborers;  in  60  instances,  peasants;  in  31  instances,  small 
shopkeepers.  Skilled  occupations  were  barely  repre- 
?nted.4  Of  173  registered  women  in  Munich,  95  of 

Adele  Schreiber  has  calculated  that  57%  of  German  women  be- 
n 20  and  30  years  old  are  unmarried.  Loc.  cit.,  p.  459. 

Loc.  cit.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  67-68. 

G.  P.  Merrick,  Work  Among  the  Fallen  (London,  1890)  pp. 

24- , 

- Zeitschrift  XII,  pp.  18,  19.  Similar  results  appear  in  statistics 
iven  by  Meher:  Die  geheime  und  difentliche  Prostitution  in 
Stuttgart,  Karlsruhe  und  Munchen  (Paderborn,  1912)  pp.  221- 
222. 

63 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  fathers  were  artisans;  46,  day  laborers;  17,  peasants. 
Of  2,574  so-called  clandestines  in  the  same  city,  the 
fathers  were:  artisans,  1,147;  laborers,  944;  peasants, 
248;  under-officials,  140.5  Two  thousand  one  hundred 
and  three  women  appeared  on  the  inscription  lists  of  the 
Stockholm  police  between  1885  and  1904:  in  179  cases, 
the  fathers  were  small  landowners  and  lease-holders;  in 
42  cases,  merchants;  in  14  cases,  national  or  municipal 
officials:  the  rest  were  gardeners,  peasants,  fishermen, 
mechanics,  publicans,  unskilled  laborers,  etc.6 

The  occupations  of  the  women  themselves  suggest  the 
same  conclusions.  They  are  the  unskilled  daughters  of 
the  unskilled  classes.  Out  of  1,327  street- women  of 
Geneva  examined  between  1907  and  1911,  503  had  been 
servants;  236,  tailoresses  and  laundresses;  120,  factory 
workers;7  of  173  registered  Munich  prostitutes  (1911), 
52  had  been  barmaids ; 8 29,  domestic  servants ; 29,  fac- 
tory workers;  15,  seamstresses;  8 had  no  particular  em- 
ployment. Of  2,574  clandestines  in  the  same  city,  721 
had  been  servants;  608,  barmaids;  255,  factory  hands; 
60,  stage-dancers  or  singers ; 170,  without  definite  calling.3 
Of  1,200  women  enrolled  in  Berlin  1909-10,  431  had  been 
servants;  445,  factory  operatives;  479,  seamstresses  and 
laundresses;  145  were  without  vocation.10  One  thou- 
sand five  hundred  women  who  were  sent  to  the  hospital 

5 Statistics  kindly  contributed  by  the  Chief  of  the  Sittenpolizei. 

6 Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  loc.  cit,  p.  77. 

7 Manuscript  communication,  based  on  private  investigation. 

8 Kellnerinnen. 

9 For  these  figures,  I am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the  Chief  of 
the  Sittenabteilung. 

10  F.  Pinkus,  in  Archiv  fur  Dermatologie  u.  Syphilis  CVII  1-3, 
p.  147. 

64 


The  Supply 

on  account  of  venereal  disease  show  the  same  voca- 
tions: 431  were  servants;  445,  factory  hands;  112  with- 
out special  employment.  Of  2,275  inscribed  Viennese 
women,  44.52%  were  servants;  20.55%,  factory  work- 
ers; 16%  without  calling.11  Of  427  admitted  to  a Lon- 
don Reformatory,  275  were  servants,  25  laundry  work- 
ers; 20,  factory  hands;  11,  dressmakers;  6,  barmaids; 
33,  without  a vocation.12  Of  675  cases  included  in  an- 
other study,  283  were  servants;  114  without  occupa- 
tion; 52,  factory  girls;  12,  barmaids.13  Another  Lon- 
don list  of  168  girls  shows  2 described  as  “ typist  and 
clerk/’ — all  the  others  engaged  in  unskilled  domestic, 
industrial,  or  mercantile  labor.14  Among  Merrick’s 
thousands,  already  referred  to,  one-half  had  been  serv- 
ants; one-tenth  each,  laundresses,  charwomen,  factory 
hands  and  seamstresses;  another  large  contingent  were 
barmaids:  a few  described  themselves  as  governesses.15 
In  the  Stockholm  cases,  the  facts  are  identical : 996  were 
servants;  395,  unskilled  workers;  266,  sewing-girls ; 57 
were  shop  girls;  6 connected  with  the  stage.16  Almost 
7,000  Paris  women,  inscribed  between  1878  and  1887 
illustrate  the  same  principle.17 

Merrick’s  data  as  to  the  educational  opportunities  en- 
joyed are  also  generally  sustained:  less  than  one-tenth 

11  Baumgarten  in  Zeitschrift  IX,  p,  135. 

12  Figures  courteously  communicated  by  the  Secretary  of  the  in- 
stitution. 

13  Ditto. 

14  Ditto. 

15  Merrick : loc.  cit,  pp.  25-26. 

16 Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  loc,  cit.,  p.  75.  Dr. 
Lindblad,  studying  800  hospital  cases,  reaches  the  same  conclusion. 
Ibid,  p.  12. 

17  Analyzed  by  Commenge,  loc.  cit.,  p.  336. 

65 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  his  cases  had  had  anything  beyond  the  most  rudi- 
mentary training ; 18  the  German  prostitutes  show  at  the 
most  only  the  compulsory  “ Volksschule  ” education.  Of 
the  minors  apprehended  during  the  year  1901,  only  36% 
of  those  over  12  years  of  age  had  completed  the  popular 
elementary  schools;  only  one-fifth  of  1%  had  advanced 
further.19  Very  few  indeed  have  acquired  in  any  direc- 
tion a substantial  degree  of  skill.  They  belong  to  the 
intellectual  as  well  as  to  the  social  proletariat.  And  this 
is  just  as  true  of  the  elaborately  dressed  denizens  of  the 
Palais  de  Dance  as  of  the  unpretending  street-walker 
of  Potsdamer  Platz:  they  are,  generally  speaking,  all  of 
the  same  origin  and  the  same  capacity. 

The  foregoing  statistics  are  obviously,  however,  not 
fully  representative,  derived  as  they  are  mainly  from  the 
records  of  the  hospital,  the  police,  the  prison,  and  the 
rescue  home.  Professionals  of  low  grade  and  failures 
are  perhaps  too  largely  included, — the  women  of  the 
street  and  the  brothel;  the  dull  drudges,  who  are  most 
likely  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  law;  the  stupid,  who 
most  readily  give  up  in  despair.  The  vocational  desig- 
nations are  also  in  one  respect  somewhat  deceptive:  the 
women  involved  not  infrequently  describe  themselves  in 
terms  not  of  an  habitual  vocation  or  of  a position  held 
at  the  moment,  but  of  perhaps  their  last  occupation,  or 
some  occupation  capriciously  selected  from  the  various 
jobs  on  which  they  have  been  more  or  less  transiently  en> 
ployed.  Low  grade  help  is  as  a rule  thus  variable  and 
casual.  For  instance:  1,689  women  were  inscribed  by 

18  Merrick,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  49-50. 

19  Schiller  in  Zeitschrift  II,  p.  304. 

66 


The  Supply 

the  police  of  Berlin  in  twelve  months  following  March 
1900;  all  declared  some  sort  of  employment;  yet  only 
352  had  work  at  the  moment.20  The  returns  are  there- 
fore not  precisely  accurate;  yet  from  the  standpoint  of 
our  interest  in  them,  they  do  more  than  justice  to  the 
quality  of  the  women,  for  to  the  extent  of  implying  pref- 
erence or  capacity  for  one  kind  of  work  rather  than  in- 
dicating aimless  shifting  from  one  to  another  and  then 
again  to  nothing,  the  impression  created  is  more  favor- 
able than  the  facts  warrant.  In  any  case,  the  economic 
competency  of  the  prostitute  is  not  higher  than  the 
statistics  indicate  and  may  be  lower.  Exceptions,  of 
course,  are  bound  to  occur.  One  finds  here  and  there  a 
stenographer,  an  elementary  teacher,  a former  actress ; 21 
but  in  most  of  these  cases,  the  woman  is,  socially  speak- 
ing, of  inferior  origin  and  intellectually  not  more  pre- 
possessing than  others  of  her  type.  Very  rarely  indeed 
a person  of  some  education,  social  standing,  and  personal 
charm  is  met  with.  A Parisian  woman  to  whom  this 
description  is  fairly  applicable  was  asked  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  finding  others  like  herself.  “ I am  one  in  a 
million/’  she  proudly  — and  truthfully  — answered. 

The  particular  features  of  the  milieu  that  involve  peril 
I shall  discuss  in  a moment.  Meanwhile,  the  fact  that 
prostitution  recruits  itself  from  a single  social  class  is 
itself  fatal  to  the  contention  that  the  prostitute  is  nec- 
essarily a born  degenerate;  for  if  prostitution  involved 
born  degeneracy ; and  if,  vice  versa,  congenital  degeneracy 

20  Statistics  quoted  by  Grotjahn,  loc.  cit.,  p.  153. 

21  Some  confidential  London  statistics  name  a few  music  teach- 
ers, school  teachers,  trained  nurses,  etc.  But  the  percentage  is  very 
small. 

67 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

made  straight  for  prostitution,  a single  milieu  would  not 
furnish  practically  the  total  supply.  The  definiteness  of 
the  type  is,  of  course,  indisputable.  Characteristic  traits, 
external  and  internal,  mark  the  scarlet  woman ; she  has  a 
distinct  gait,  smile,  leer;  she  is  lazy,  unveracious,  plea- 
sure-loving, easily  led,  fond  of  liquor,  heedless  of  the 
future,  and  usually  devoid  of  moral  sense.  Defect  un- 
doubtedly accounts  for  certain  cases,  and  especially  so 
where  a psychopathic  family  strain  is  continuously  im- 
plicated. Of  21  girls  recently  admitted  into  a newly- 
established  observation  home  in  Berlin,  5 were  reported 
as  mentally  below  par;  of  Mrs.  Booth’s  150  cases  dis- 
cussed below,22  12%  were  feeble-minded.  In  the  case 
of  prostitutes  committed  under  the  British  Inebriate 
Acts,  the  percentage  naturally  runs  much  higher:  in  1909, 
out  of  219  such  immoral  women,  only  70  are  described 
as  of  “good”  mental  state;  118  were  “defective”;  23, 
“ very  defective  ” ; 8,  “ insane  ” ; i.  e .,  almost  70%  were 
below  normal.  “ There  is,”  writes  Dr.  Branthwaite,  “ al- 
most consistent  evidence  here  of  some  causative  relation- 
ship between  mental  defect  and  prostitution;  but  the 
evidence  is  by  no  means  overwhelming  enough  to  justify 
more  than  a general  conclusion  that  mental  defect  is  one 
of  many  causes  for  its  prevalence.”  23  Bonhoffer,  study- 
ing 190  prostitutes  incarcerated  in  prison  at  Breslau, 
found  that  one  hundred  came  from  alcoholic  families  and 
that  two-thirds  of  them  were  mentally  defective  — hys- 
terical, epileptic  or  feeble-minded;  his  judgment  is  ad- 

122  Page  80. 

23  Report  of  the  Inspector  under  the  Inebriate  Acts,  1879  to 
1900,  for  year  1909  (London,  1911)  p.  24. 


68 


The  Supply 

verse  to  the  existence  of  the  “ born  prostitute/’  but  in 
favor  of  congenital  defect  as  providing  soil  favorable  to 
immorality.24  One  hundred  and  fifty-five  Berlin  cases 
between  12  and  21  years  of  age,  yield  an  equally  striking 
result;  30%  are  reported  as  “ intact,”  23%,  as  feeble; 
43%,  as  psychopathic;  66%  are  therefore  abnormal.25 
Premature  development  on  the  sex  side  is  also  frequently 
encountered.  Among  Lindblad’s  800  cases,  52  had  had 
sexual  intercourse  before  they  were  15  years  old;  111 
more,  before  they  were  sixteen.26  In  these  instances  there 
was  presumably  a lack  of  self-control,  but  not  nec- 
essarily always  a lack  of  the  very  possibility  of  acquir- 
ing it,  such  as  the  degeneration  argument  requires.  How 
far  these  statistics  are  reliable,  representative,  or  signifi- 
cant, it  is  impossible  to  determine.  Expert  scientific 
study  of  large  numbers  of  women  from  each  of  the 
different  strata  of  prostitution,  without  as  well  as  within 
prisons,  reformatories,  hospitals  and  refuges  is  needed  in 
order  to  clear  up  the  question.  For  though  degeneracy 
and  native  depravity  may  account  for  the  prostitute  alone 
or  in  connection  with  other  facts,  her  conduct  and  quali- 
ties are  also  otherwise  explicable.  The  women  involved 
have,  as  we  have  learned,  undeveloped  intelligence  to 
begin  with;  riotous  sex-indulgence,  the  loss  of  shame, 

24  Quoted  by  P.  Pollitz,  Die  Psychologie  des  Verbrechers  (Leip- 
zig, 1909)  p.  89.  It  must  be  observed  that  just  as  Branthwaite’s 
high  percentage  is  due  to  complication  with  inebriacy,  so  Bon- 
hoffer’s  must  be  regarded  as  complicated  by  criminality.  A similar 
investigation  dealing  with  the  tramps  and  beggars  of  Breslau  has 
been  made  by  Bonhoffer ; see  “ Ein  Beitrag  zur  Kenntnis  des 
grosstadtischen  Bettel-  und  Vagabondentums (Berlin,  1900.) 

25  Helene  F.  Stelzner,  Gibt  es  geborene  Prostituiertef  (Dresden, 
1911)  p.  9- 

26  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  10. 

69 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

alcohol,  irregular  hours,  disease,  combine  to  bring  about 
speedy  and  far-reaching  demoralization.  Moral  idiocy, 
covetousness,  aversion  to  work,  vanity,  inclination  to 
steal,  libidinousness,  may  be  acquired  as  well  as  native 
traits;  they  may  be  qualities  exaggerated,  even  if  not 
altogether  bred  in  the  course  of  the  career.  “ The  per- 
sonality of  the  prostitute,”  Bloch  contends,  “ is  the  re- 
sult rather  than  the  reason  of  her  occupation.” 27 
Branthwaite  holds  that  even  the  so-called  “ tempera- 
mental prostitute,”  with  morbidly  violent  sexual  desire, 
is  apt  to  be  the  product  of  her  way  of  life : in  the  majority 
of  his  cases  he  believes  the  symptom  to  be  a “ character- 
istic acquired  by  habit.” 28  Undoubtedly  personal  or 
anthropological  factors  are  usually  involved:  for  if  it 
were  a question  of  milieu  alone,  all  affected  by  it  would 
succumb.  But  the  exact  extent  to  which  the  anthropo- 
logical factor  is  congenital  defect  or  only  imperfect  edu- 
cation and  protection  remains  as  yet  to  be  settled. 

However  this  may  turn  out,  the  peril  of  the  milieu 
remains.  It  increases  in  geometric  ratio  with  the  feeble- 
ness of  the  girl,  to  whatever  cause  that  feebleness  be  due. 
The  reason  of  this  may  best  be  comprehended,  if  the 
question  is  approached  from  the  opposite  end.  Let  us 
ask,  not  why  some  women  fall,  but  why  others  go 
straight.  A certain  number,  undoubtedly,  because  of 
sheer  character ; these  are  the  women  who  lead  righteous 
lives  under  all  circumstances  whatsoever;  for  they  are 
made  of  the  hardy  fiber  that  withstands  any  kind  of 

27  “ Die  Prostitution,”  Vol.  i,  p.  331.  Parent-Duchatelet  de- 
scribes the  type  excellently:  loc.  cit.,  Chapter  II. 

28  Report,  1909,  loc.  cit.,  p.  24. 


70 


The  Supply 

wear  and  tear.  A proportion,  one  has  no  way  of  know- 
ing how  large,  keep  straight  for  the  mere  lack  of  suffi- 
cient temptation  to  do  otherwise : “ The  happy  acci- 

dent of  the  absence  of  opportunity  has  helped  to  the 
rescue  of  many  eminent  virgins  at  critical  moments,” 
George  Meredith  caustically  remarks.29  But  a still 
larger  number,  though  doubtless  persuaded  of  their  own 
ethical  superiority,  attribute  to  positive  character  what  is 
really  due  to  the  unnoticed  pressure  of  clan  opinion,  and 
the  imperceptible  barriers  by  which  they  are  completely 
surrounded.  The  certain  disapproval  of  family  and 
friends,  the  sure  ostracism  that  attends  a serious  depar- 
ture from  the  accepted  code  of  behavior  consciously  or 
unconsciously  act  as  powerful  deterrents;  the  esteem  we 
are  taught  to  crave,  the  warnings,  expostulations,  and  de- 
mands of  family  and  friends  constantly  on  the  lookout, 
keep  the  growing  child  within  a well-marked  path;  es- 
tablished habit,  position,  responsibility  for  others,  and 
ripe  reason  ultimately  approving  the  same  — these  func- 
tion in  many  cases  as  a substitute  for  fundamentally 
hardy  character.  The  superiority  in  such  instances  is 
trained,  not  inherent;  and  not  so  much  narrowly  educa- 
tional as  widely  social.  The  whole  organization  of  cer- 
tain strata  of  society  supports  those  who  pass  their  lives 
securely  within  it. 

In  many  cases  — we  have  as  yet  no  way  of  know- 
ing how  many  — the  girls  who  fall  differ  from  those  who 
go  straight  in  lacking  precisely  these  supports;  they  are 
born  in  a stratum  in  which  no  strong  supporting  bulwark 
of  opinion  and  habit  has  been  developed ; or  the  bulwark, 

29  Letters  (2  Vols.,  New  York,  1912)  Vol.  II,  p.  532. 

71 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

such  as  it  is,  has  been  in  one  way  or  another  broken  down. 
The  strong  characters  — and  they  are  immensely  more 
abundant  than  is  usually  supposed  — do  without  it;  the 
weaker  too  often  succumb.  Even  so,  their  collapse  is 
rarely  sudden.  It  is  a hopeful  fact  that  decency  is  often 
only  gradually  and  cunningly  undermined.  The  buyer 
dealing  with  the  seasoned  prostitute  may  go  straight  to 
his  object;  his  purpose  must  be  veiled  in  negotiations  with 
the  beginner,  who  is  led  on  by  pretty  clothes,  amusements, 
wine  and  glitter.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that,  as 
a rule,  promiscuity  is  congenial  to  the  woman  from  the 
start;  it  is  sometimes  increasingly  odious.  Low  as  the 
barrier  may  be,  the  prostitute  has  rarely  once  and  for 
all  deliberately  stepped  across  it.  Her  demoralization  is 
a progressive,  not  a summary,  process.  With  her,  the 
sex  instinct  is,  for  reasons  already  given,  less  apt  to  be 
valued  at  its  real  worth,  or  to  be  properly  safeguarded 
by  deference  to  exacting  opinion;  less  apt,  too,  to  be 
reduced  in  comparative  urgency  by  the  volume  and 
abundance  of  other  satisfactions.  The  girl  has,  how- 
ever, no  notion  in  the  first  place  of  becoming  a prostitute. 
She  begins  by  giving  away  what  ultimately  she  learns  to 
sell. 

From  the  above  discussion,  it  appears  that,  as  far  as 
we  now  know,  it  may  be  not  so  much  individuals  as  en- 
vironments, that  are  superior.  Danger  lies  where  the 
environment  puts  up  no  high  barrier;  still  more  so  when 
the  low  barrier,  the  strong  temptation,  and  the  weak  re- 
sistance, coincide.  How  completely  the  untrained  daugh- 
ters of  the  proletariat  lack  the  positive  protections  and 
supports  by  means  of  which  better-conditioned  girls  are, 

72 


The  Supply 

even  in  default  of  their  own  strength,  held  upright,  a 
somewhat  closer  study  of  the  facts  will  soon  show. 

There  is,  in  the  first  place,  no  quicker  way  of  evading 
the  immaterial  forces  that  assist  in  maintaining  an  ap- 
proved line  of  conduct  than  abrupt  transplantation  of  an 
immature  person  into  an  environment  within  which  no 
such  forces  operate  on  the  individual  in  question.  Ac- 
cordingly, a heavy  percentage  of  urban  prostitutes  are 
girls  who  have  left  home:  of  168  girls  in  a London  res- 
cue home,  85  were  born  abroad;  not  all  the  83  English 
girls  were  London  born.30  “ The  servants  in  Man- 
chester,” I was  told,  “ come  almost  invariably  from  re- 
mote counties;  they  have  been  familiar  at  home  with 
the  men,  with  whom  they  walk  out.”  In  a strange  city, 
without  work,  or  with  hard  work,  they  obtain  through 
the  too  lightly  prized  sex-function,  at  least  for  the  mo- 
ment, what  their  lot  otherwise  lacks.  Out  of  12,707 
women  inscribed  in  Paris,  two-thirds  were  born  outside 
the  department  of  the  Seine.31  Only  213  out  of  781  girls 
newly  enrolled  in  Paris  in  a single  year  were  natives  of 
the  city.32  Of  1,376  inscribed  prostitutes  of  Stockholm 
(1890-1904),  only  21.1%  were  natives  of  that  city;  the 
same  proportion  were  born  in  other  Swedish  cities;  57% 
were  country  girls;  the  rest,  foreigners.33  Many  of 
the  prostitutes  of  Vienna  were  born  in  the  poor  dis- 
tricts of  Galicia  and  Poland.  The  studies  of  Lindblad 

30  Private  communication. 

31  Parent-Duchatelet : loc.  cit.,  I,  p.  44.  Of  6,842  clandestines, 

two-thirds  were  born  outside  the  department  of  the  Seine.  Com- 
menge,  loc.  cit .,  p.  304. 

32  M.  Talmeyr,  Das  Ende  einer  Gesellschaft  (Berlin,  no  date)  p. 
256. 

33  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  74. 

73 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

and  Welander  in  Stockholm  show  how  closely  immorality 
has  followed  detachment  from  home  in  hundreds  of  in- 
stances.34 

The  home  barrier  is  itself  often  so  low  as  to  consti- 
tute little  or  no  obstacle  to  demoralization, — often  in- 
deed, demoralization  is  of  domestic  origin.  Sidney  and 
Beatrice  Webb,  dealing  with  London  destitution,  describe 
a situation  existing  in  all  crowded  European  cities : “ The 
herding  together,  by  day  and  by  night,  of  men  and  women, 
of  young  and  old,  of  boys  and  girls,  of  all  degrees  of 
relationship  or  no  relationship,  not  only  destroys  health, 
but  makes,  to  the  ordinary  human  being,  the  particular 
virtue  upon  which  the  integrity  of  the  family  depends, 
wholly  impracticable.  Any  person  who  has  dwelt  among 
the  denizens  of  the  slums,  cannot  fail  to  have  brought 
home  to  him  the  existence  of  a stratum  of  society  of  no 
inconsiderable  magnitude  in  which  children  part  with 
their  innocence  long  before  puberty,  in  which  personal 
chastity  is  virtually  unknown,  and  in  which  ‘ to  have  a 
baby  by  your  father  9 is  laughed  at  as  a comic  mishap.”  35 
In  a close  in  High  Street,  Edinburg,  I visited  with  the 
city  physician  a family  consisting  of  father,  mother, 
grandmother,  daughter  of  13,  and  two  younger  children, 
all  of  whom  slept  in  a single  bed.  Professor  Blaschko 
declares  that  “ what  Robert  Koch  once  said  of  tubercu- 
losis, viz.,  that  it  is  a question  of  living  conditions,  holds 
equally  of  prostitution.  Living  conditions  are  responsi- 
ble for  the  fact  that  children  learn  all  forms  of  evil 

34  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  28. 

35  The  Prevention  of  Destitution  (London,  1912)  p.  306  (slightly 
abridged). 


74 


The  Supply 

prematurely  and  forego  all  natural  enjoyments/’  33  Of 
the  inhabitants  in  Berlin  in  1900,  73.7%  lived  in  dwell- 
ings of  two  rooms  or  less;  785,000  lived  in  single  rooms; 
561,000  in  two  rooms;  5,450  in  one  unheated  room; 
7,759  in  a kitchen.37  Too  frequently,  the  home,  such 
as  it  is,  is  broken  besides.  Not  infrequently,  necessity 
drives  the  mother  herself  to  become  a wage-earner. 
Something  above  2,000,000  German  women  are  engaged 
in  factories,  one-third  of  whom  are  married,  widowed 
or  divorced.  The  children  of  these  families, — boys  and 
girls  alike, — lack  the  rearing  which  would  be  their  most 
important  safeguard.  Unfortunately,  too,  the  tide  is  ris- 
ing: the  married  women  workers  of  Bavaria  increased 
absolutely  in  number  72%  from  1895  to  1907; 38 
throughout  Germany  a similiar  rise  is  taking  place.39 
As  this  increase  involves  especially  women  between  30 
and  50  years  of  age,  it  is  clear  that  they  are  driven  into 
factories  in  order  to  support  children  whose  welfare 
requires  that  the  mother  should  stay  at  home.  In  other 
instances,  the  home  is  fractured  by  death,  desertion  or 
immorality:  of  565  Stuttgart  prostitutes,  64.2%  were 

36  Mitteilungen  der  deutschen  Gesellschaft  zur  Bekdmpfung  der 
Geschlechtskrankheiten  (Leipzig,  1912)  X,  6,  p.  129. 

37  Miinsterberg,  Prostitution  und  Staat  (Leipzig,  1911)  p.  13. 
The  subject  is  discussed  at  length,  with  bibliography,  in  Zeitschrift 
I,  pp.  134-162;  and  III,  p.  165. 

38  Rosa  Kempf,  Die  Industriearbeiterin  als  Mutter , in  Adele 
Schreiber’s  Mutter schaft  (Munich,  1912)  pp.  230-243. 

39  Marcuse,  Beschrankung  der  Geburtenzahl,  pp.  57-58.  The 
proportional  increase  looks  less  startling;  the  figures  were  34.8% 
of  the  entire  female  population  in  1882,  38.3%  in  1907.  For  further 
details,  see:  Helene  Simon,  Der  Anteil  der  Frau  an  der  deutschen 
Industrie  nach  den  Ergebnissen  der  Berujszahlung  von  1907  (Jena, 
1907)  also : Robert  and  Lisbeth  Wilbrandt,  Die  deutsche  Frau  im 
Beruf.  (Part  IV  of  " Handbuch  der  Frauenbewegung ” (Berlin, 
1902). 


75 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

wholly  or  partially  orphaned ; 40  of  384  London  cases, 
only  24%  had  both  parents  alive.41  In  Lindblad’s  cases, 
219  out  of  772  homes  are  classified  as  “bad”  or  “very 
bad.”  42  Ominous  is  the  role  played  by  alcohol  in  dis- 
solving the  home  and  in  undermining  the  constitution  of 
the  children.43 

The  inordinately  large  contingent  of  servants  is 
partially  accounted  for  on  these  lines;  for  the  serv- 
ant has  given  up  her  own  home  and  does  not  always 
make  for  herself  another  in  the  house  she  serves. 
She  has  come  from  the  landless  country  proletariat, 
where  sexual  intercourse  is  either  customary  or  not  for- 
bidden; in  the  city,  exposure  and  weak  resistance  make 
her  a frequent  victim.  Servants  between  16  and  30 
years  old  form  one-fourth  of  the  female  population  of 
Berlin;  they  bear  one-third  of  the  illegitimate  children 
of  the  population.  Of  the  registered  prostitutes  of  Ber- 
lin in  1900,  60%  had  traveled  this  road.44  In  Paris,  of 
6,842  clandestine  prostitutes  arrested  and  found  ill  within 
the  decade  1878-1887,  2,681  — i.  e.,  39.18% — were 
domestics.45  Two  hundred  and  eighty-four  of  Lind- 

40  Zeitschrift  XII,  p.  19. 

41  The  details  are : 124  had  lost  both  parents 

147  had  lost  one  parent 

20  did  not  know  if  parents  were  living  or  dead 
93  had  both  parents  alive 

384 

Report , London  Female  Preventive  and  Reformatory  Institution 
1910-11.  Merrick,  loc.  cit.,  p.  31  gives  additional  statistics  to  the 
same  effect.  See  also:  Othmar  Spann, — Untersuchungen  iiber  die 

uneheliche  Bevolkerung  in  Frankfort-a . M.  (Dresden,  1905). 

42  Report , Swedish  Commission , Vol.  Ill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  30. 

43  Branthwaite,  Report,  1909,  p.  24. 

44Wilbrandt,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  147,  148. 

45  Commenge,  loc,  cit.,  p.  337. 


76 


The  Supply 

blad’s  800  patients  were  servants,  80  more  were  attend- 
ants on  little  children,  170  charwomen.46 

If  the  urban  home  often  leaves  its  girls  defehceless  47 
or  demoralized,  the  daughters  of  the  rural  proletariat 
fare  even  worse.  The  children  of  the  landless  peasant 
are  a sheer  drain  — they  have  no  economic  value  to  the 
family.  I recall  a characteristic  instance  of  a girl  of  27, 
one  of  fourteen  children  belonging  to  a peasant  family, 
eleven  of  whom  had  died  in  infancy.  She  herself  had 
had  no  rearing  whatsoever.  Drifting  from  pillar  to 
post,  she  had  come  to  Munich,  where  at  17  she  had  a 
child;  since  then,  five  others,  of  whom  one  survives, 
maintained  by  her  on  her  illicit  earnings.48 

It  is  early  demoralization  that  is  most  dangerous,  and 
it  is  precisely  to  early  demoralization  that  the  bad  or 
broken  home  most  surely  leads.  In  all  great  European 
cities  the  rapid  increase  of  the  prostitution  of  minors  has 
been  noted.  Without  domestic  protection,  the  girl  seeks 
her  amusement  on  the  streets  and  wittingly  or  unwit- 
tingly is  led  to  her  fall.  Between  1880  and  1903  the 
average  number  of  minors  annually  arrested  for  prosti- 
tution by  the  Paris  police  was  1,370, — the  total,  32,- 
885. 49  Nine  hundred  and  seventy-five  minors  were  ar- 
rested there  for  this  offence  1,638  times  in  1908', — 91 
of  them  under  16;  988  minors  were  arrested  1,739  times 

46  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol  III,  loc.  cit.,  p.  12. 

47  It  is  of  course  impossible  to  give  an  exhaustive  account  in  the 
text.  The  living-in  system  in  vogue  in  English  shops  affords  an- 
other example  of  the  demoralizing  outcome  of  the  broken  or  un- 
natural home.  See  Report  of  the  Truck  Committee  (London,  1900) 
Vol.  I,  pp.  70,  71. 

48  See  also  Adele  Schreiber,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  243-256. 

49  Fiaux,  loc.  cit.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  608.  See  also  his  LTntegrite  inter - 
sexuelle  des  peuples  et  les  Gouvernements  (Paris,  1910)  p.  206. 

77 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  next  year, — 221  under  eighteen.50  In  general  it 
has  been  estimated  that  one-half  of  the  minors  arrested 
have  not  yet  finished  their  seventeenth  year.51  The 
Viennese  authorities  declare  that  “ clandestine  prostitu- 
tion in  its  varied  forms  is  made  up  for  the  most  part  of 
youthful  persons.  Clandestine  prostitutes,  especially  in 
so  far  as  they  are  incidentally  engaged  as  waitresses  in 
“ Animierkneipen  ” and  restaurants,  singers  and  dan- 
cers, are  usually  young,  since,  among  other  reasons,  youth 
is  a condition  sine  qua  non  of  employment.  While  out 
of  1,000  inscribed  prostitutes  only  16%  were  under  21 
years  of  age,  among  the  same  number  of  non-inscribed  ar- 
rested on  the  streets,  over  57%  were  minors.”  52  In  the 
year  1910,  of  1,319  arrests,  823  were  minors  whose  utter 
isolation  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  efforts  to  preserve 
some  sort  of  family  guardianship  failed  in  802  in- 
stances.53 In  Cologne,  1,626  arrests  were  made  in  1911, 
— 1,296  of  them  minors, — 79  under  18  years  of  age. 
German  authorities  hold  in  general  that  the  danger  period 
lies  between  the  12th  and  the  21st  year:  “only  a small 
percentage  go  wrong  after  the  21st  year.”  54  Among  846 
newly  inscribed  prostitutes  in  Berlin  in  1898,  229  were 
minors,  despite  a settled  policy  in  favor  of  registering 
adults  only.  There  is  perhaps  no  better  proof  of  the 
extent  of  demoralization  during  girlhood : seven  of  these 

50  Rapport  de  M.  Georges  Honnorat,  Chef  de  la  Premiere  Division 
de  la  Prefecture  de  Police,  presented  to  the  VIII  Congres  national 
du  Patronage,  1910  (pp.  6,  7). 

51  Eugene  Prevost,  De  la  Prostitution  des  Enfants.  (Paris,  1909) 
p.  215. 

52  E.  Finger  und  A.  Baumgarten,  Referat  iiber  die  Regelung  der 
Prostitution  in  Oesterreich  (Wien,  1909)  p.  88  (abridged). 

53  Personal  communication  from  officials. 

54  Stelzner,  loc . cit.,  p.  8;  also  Pollitz,  loc.  cit.,  p.  89. 

78 


The  Supply 

were  mere  children, — 15  years  old ; 21  were  16  years  old ; 
and  33,  seventeen  years  of  age.55  Nor  are  conditions 
any  better  in  smaller  towns.  Bendig,  studying  prostitu- 
tion in  Stuttgart  from  1894  to  1908,  finds  55%  of  the 
women  deflowered  under  seventeen  years  of  age;  70%, 
between  sixteen  and  eighteen;  97.3%,  between  fourteen 
and  twenty-five.56  Over  one-half  were  under  twenty 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  their  registration  as  profes- 
sional prostitutes  by  the  police.  Through  some  English 
Rescue  Homes,  745  children  between  eight  and  fifteen 
years  of  age  passed  in  the  course  of  three  years.57  The 
confidential  memorandum  dealing  with  168  cases  already 
referred  to  shows  that  all  but  30  were  under  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  So,  of  92  girls  admitted  to  a London 
Rescue  Home,  50  were  less  than  twenty-one  years  old. 
Of  1,882  prostitutes  arrested  on  the  streets  of  Glasgow 
for  drunkenness  or  soliciting,  seven  were  between  four- 
teen and  sixteen;  and  314  between  sixteen  and  twenty- 
one.58  Of  this  type  are  usually  the  white-slave  cases, — 
young  girls  for  the  most  part  enticed  from  poor  rural  or 
urban  homes  by  the  promise  of  employment  or  marriage 
in  a great  city ; as  also  instances  not  altogether  unknown 
in  which  mothers  sell  their  own  children.  A brisk  de- 

65  Schiller,  Zeitschrift  II,  p.  309. 

58  Zeitschrift  XII,  pp.  19,  22. 

57  T.  G.  Cree,  The  Need  of  Rescue  Work  Among  Children.  (Lon- 
don, Church  Penitentiary  Association)  p.  3;  Merrick’s  data  on  the 
same  subject  are  given,  loc.  cit.,  p.  34. 

58  Report  of  the  Chief  Constable  for  the  year  ending  December  31, 
1909.  An  even  more  unfavorable  account  is  contained  in  the 
Memorandum  on  a Social  Evil  in  Glasgow  previously  referred  to. 
The  Chief  Constable  in  reply  holds  that  the  memorandum  ex- 
aggerates. 


79 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

mand  for  the  child  prostitute  constitutes  a strong  induce- 
ment.59 

Exposure  sometimes  originates  otherwise.  Sometimes 
the  seduced  servant  or  shop  girl,  or  the  pregnant 
country  lass,  may  lose  position  or  caste,  and,  besides, 
find  herself  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  herself 
and  her  child,  law  and  custom  bearing  all  too  lightly  on 
her  partner.  In  point  of  character  the  girl  has  no  longer 
anything  to  lose ; meanwhile,  need  presses.  Eighty- 
three  out  of  the  1 68  London  cases  already  discussed  were 
of  this  type.  In  Berlin,  1,531  girls  were  newly  inscribed 
in  the  years  1908-9-10;  of  these,  636  — i.  e.,  over  41%, 
had  borne  children.60  Mrs.  Bramwell  Booth  furnished 
me  a detailed  study  of  150  cases,  out  of  which  11% 
were  believed  to  be  attributable  to  pregnancy  following 
seduction.  Lindblad  found  that  62  of  800  women  — 
7^4% — insisted  that  they  had  become  prostitutes  in  or- 
der to  support  children:  of  these  10  were  widowed  or 
divorced;  34  were  unmarried,  but  confessed  to  a suc- 
cession of  lovers;  18  were  unmarried  and  with  but  one 
child.61  Children  born  under  such  conditions  represent 
at  times  the  most  aggravated  form  of  the  broken  home, 
and  not  a few  of  the  girls  afterwards  take  to  irregular 
lives:  nevertheless,  by  no  means  universally.  For,  as 
Adele  Schreiber  has  forcibly  pointed  out,  illegitimacy  is 
a complicated  phenomenon,  by  no  means  universally  in- 
volving recklessness  and  irresponsibility.62  The  premari- 
tal intercourse  of  European  boy  and  girl  may  result  in 

59  Moll,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  383-4. 

60  Moll,  loc.  cit.,  p.  390. 

61  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  24. 

62  Adele  Schreiber,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  257,  501,  etc. 

80 


The  Supply 

an  illegitimate  birth  which  is  either  preliminary  to  mar- 
riage or  is  regarded  as  equivalent  thereto.  This  fact 
enables  us  to  understand  why  the  researches  of  Jo- 
hansson in  Stockholm63  and  Pinkus  in  Berlin  appear 
to  indicate  that  illegitimate  children  contribute  somewhat 
less  than  their  expected  quota  to  the  recruiting  of  the 
prostitute  army.  While  1 7-3%  of  the  births  in  Berlin 
during  certain  specified  years  were  illegitimate,  only 
13.7%  of  the  inscribed  prostitutes  in  the  same  period 
were  of  illegitimate  origin.64  Johansson  calculated  that 
one  would  expect  to  find  12%  to  14 °fo  of  the  enrolled 
women  of  Stockholm  to  be  illegitimates:  they  make  up 
only  9%  to  11%  of  the  entries.65  Meanwhile  the  situa- 
tion is  charged  with  danger,  unless  the  father  meets  his 
responsibility.  Too  often  this  is  not  the  case ; and  a re- 
lationship that  perhaps  began  in  passion  deteriorates  — 
the  man  seeking  other  women,  the  women  turning  to 
prostitution. 

One  more  consideration  ought  to  be  separately  men- 
tioned, because  it  is  mainly  and  most  fatally  operative 
in  the  milieu  with  which  we  are  dealing, — the  influence 
of  evil  example.  From  vicious  suggestion  practically 
no  child  is  free ; but  the  children  to  whom  our  attention 
has  been  directed  may  be  so  loosely  anchored  that  they 
are  easily  carried  away.  The  ruined  girl,  glancing  back 
over  the  path  she  has  come,  overlooks  the  fundamental 
facts  of  environment  and  disposition  and  sees  only  the 
older  comrade  or  chance  acquaintance,  whose  easy  at- 

63  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  79. 

64  Pinkus,  Archiv.  loc.  cit.,  p.  415. 

66  Report,  Swedish  Commission , Vol.  Ill,  p.  79. 


81 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tainment  of  fun,  clothes,  trinkets,  she  envies.  Of  the 
800  Stockholm  cases  to  which  I have  already  frequently 
referred,  71%  attributed  their  final  decision  to  advice 
from  tainted  sources;  217,  from  professional  prostitutes; 
215,  from  clandestines ; 81,  from  immoral  girls;  4,  from 
their  own  mothers.66 

I need  hardly  call  attention  to  what  the  reader  will 
already  have  observed,  viz.,  that  I have  frequently  cited 
the  same  statistics  in  different  connections : for  the  same 
girl  may  appear  as  orphaned,  as  servant,  as  ignorant,  as 
illegitimate,  as  badly  advised.  No  one  circumstance  can 
be  regarded  as  alone  fatal;  the  complicated  skein  of  in- 
fluences and  associations  cannot  be  completely  disen- 
tangled. The  facts  that  have  been  adduced, — broken 
homes,  bad  homes,  exposure, — do  not  then  act  directly 
as  causes,  in  the  sense  that  the  girls  involved  take  to 
prostitution  “ as  the  sparks  fly  upward.”  Of  several 
sisters,  all  placed  in  precisely  the  same  situation,  only  one 
may  succumb;  personal  or  anthropological  forces  may 
successfully  defend  all  the  others,  despite  their  apparently 
identical  position.  The  environment  is,  however,  not 
thus  freed  of  responsibility, — it  is  merely  freed  of  di- 
rect, simple  or  sole  responsibility.  It  does  not  cause 
prostitution;  but  the  huge  proletariat  is  the  reservoir 
from  which  victims  can  be  readily  drawn.  Nor  are  sin- 
gle factors  characteristic  of  the  proletariat  causally  re- 
sponsible; but  the  phenomenon  attaches  itself  to  a chain 
of  factors  belonging  in  their  totality  to  this  milieu  alone. 
Bad  fathers,  loose  mothers,  alcoholism,  poor  associations, 

66  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  81.  See  also 
Moll,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  393-4- 


82 


The  Supply 

physical  defect,  occur  sporadically  in  every  social  stra- 
tum; but  all  together  combined  with  defective  educa- 
tion, low  economic  capacity,  absence  of  oversight  and 
restraint,  rampant  desires  and  meager  satisfactions  occur 
only  in  the  proletariat. 

We  are  in  position  now  to  judge  the  part  played  by 
economic  pressure.  The  preponderance  of  servants  sug- 
gests the  proper  interpretation : for  the  servant  does  not 
lack  food  or  shelter,  and  her  services  are  everywhere  in 
demand.  She  does  not  therefore  resort  to  prostitution  as 
an  alternative  to  starvation.  Animated  by  a natural  de- 
sire to  excuse  their  conduct,  as  most  human  beings  are, 
the  direct  pressure  of  need  is  rarely  assigned  by  prostitutes 
in  exculpation  of  their  conduct.  Mrs.  Bramwell  Booth, 
than  whom  there  is  no  more  competent  or  sympathetic 
authority,  found  among  150  successive  and  unusually 
varied  cases  only  2%  who  explained  their  prostitution 
by  inability  to  earn  a livelihood;  Strohmberg  discovered 
among  462  enrolled  women  at  Dorpat  only  one  who  pro- 
tested poverty  as  her  justification; 67  Pinkus,  6S  studying 
the  incomes  of  1,550  Berlin  women  before  embarking 
on  the  life,  decides  that  1,389  had  earned  enough  for 
self-support.69  But  it  would  be  obviously  unfair  to  say 
of  these  1,389  women  capable  of  earning  a living  that 
social-economic  conditions  had  nothing  to  do  with  their 
fall;  for  precisely  these  conditions  create  a situation 
capable  of  being  exploited.  Undeveloped  moral  char- 
acter, early  and  careless  infringement  of  the  sex  func- 

67  Loc.  cit.,  p.  81.  68  Archiv.  loc.  cit.,  p.  149. 

69  Lindblad  studies  his  Swedish  cases  from  this  point  of  view ; 
Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  loc  cit.,,  pp.  41,  etc. 

83 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tion,  drudgery,  on  the  one  hand,  unsatisfied  and  uncon- 
trolled cravings,  on  the  other, — these  are  all  largely  so- 
cial-economic in  their  origin  and  scope.  It  happens  all 
too  often  that  girls  born  perhaps  to  pull  canal  boats,  and 
with  education  and  intelligence  hardly  above  their  lot, 
possess  some  little  fancy,  or  love  of  pleasure,  or  taste  in 
dress,  without  the  strength  of  will  or  ideals  to  content 
themselves  with  an  existence  of  mere  endurance  in  a 
world  full  of  enjoyment.  They  end  by  exploiting  the  sex 
function  in  order  to  obtain  the  satisfactions  not  other- 
wise accessible,  or  to  escape  difficulties  and  drudgeries 
from  which  they  can  contrive  no  other  exit. 

Prostitution  is  thus  of  economic  origin  and  significance 
in  so  far  as  the  region  of  economic  pressure  is  mainly  the 
region  from  which  the  prostitute  comes.  Whether  or  not 
the  family  lives  in  this  region  is  primarily  a question  of 
the  father’s  income.  The  region  is,  however,  not  statis- 
tically definable:  a specified  income  may  keep  a given 
family  or  a given  individual  under  dangerous  pressure; 
the  same  income  may  release  from  pressure  another  fam- 
ily or  another  individual.  Severest,  of  course,  where  ac- 
tual poverty  exists,  all  those  whose  needs,  desires  and  pro- 
tests beat  vainly  against  the  limits  imposed  by  their  re- 
sources, live  within  the  area  of  economic  pressure.  But 
the  mere  fact  of  living  within  the  area,  whether  in  its 
darkest  tract  or  elsewhere,  is  not  of  itself  conclusive. 
For  the  prostitute  is,  in  the  last  resort,  to  use  a biologi- 
cal phrase,  “ individually  selected  ” in  the  manner  al- 
ready sketched. 

The  menace  of  unfavorable  economic  conditions  can  be 
clearly  discerned  in  certain  directions.  Prostitution 

84 


The  Supply 

fluctuates  with  seasonal  and  casual  labor;  in  certain  em- 
ployments it  is  looked  upon  as  a regular  source  of  inci- 
dental income  to  women  workers;  in  other  employments 
it  offers  to  girls  not  living  at  home  the  readiest  recourse. 
As  bearing  on  the  part  played  by  casual  and  seasonal 
labor,  it  is  important  to  note  that  the  proportion  of  their 
female  help  permanently  employed  by  certain  London 
shops  often  falls  as  low  as  25%  of  their  maximum  help; 
it  rarely  rises  above  7 5%  : 70  that  is  to  say,  something  be- 
tween one-quarter  and  three-quarters  of  the  women  em- 
ployees of  the  London  shops  are  casual  hands,  turned 
adrift  in  increasing  numbers  as  the  trade  barometer  falls. 
Charles  Booth  notes  in  addition  to  the  “ more  regular 
members  of  this  varied  group  of  women,  some  who  take  to 
the  life  occasionally;  tailoresses  or  dressmakers  who  re- 
turn to  their  trade  in  busy  times ; girls  from  low  neigh- 
borhoods, who  eke  out  a living  in  this  way.”  71  “ It  is 

true,”  writes  Wilbrandt  of  the  irregularly  employed 
girls  in  Germany,  “ that  when  out  of  work,  many  of  them 
succeed  from  time  to  time  in  sewing  more  or  less  for  pri- 
vate customers,  or  the  lodging-house  keepers  give  them 
credit  (‘give  food  to  the  unfortunate  also  at  times’), 
but  for  the  majority  this  is  no  remedy.  Even  more  than 
the  isolated  factory  workers,  these  girls  are  fairly  forced 
to  prostitution.  Where  there  is  no  serious  obstacle, 
hardly  one  of  this  type,  if  isolated,  but  is  given  to  oc- 
casional prostitution.”  72  The  vagrant  class  in  trade  and 

70  Statement  made  to  me  by  Miss  Maud  Bondfield. 

71  Loc.  cit.,  p.  127. 

72  Loc.  cit.,  p.  123,  with  note  (2).  To  the  same  effect,  Hans  Ost- 
wald,  Das  Berliner  Dirnentum,  8 Abteilung — Gelegenheitsdirnen 
among  whom  he  reckons  “ a great  mass  of  women  and  girls  ” more  or 

85 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

industry  and  those  dependent  upon  them  are  necessarily 
restless,  improvident  and  irresponsible.73 

Practically  in  the  same  category  are  the  workers  whose 
wages  suffice  only  if  they  live  at  home,  in  which  case  part 
of  their  support  is  borne  by  other  members  of  the  family; 
where  — as  so  often  happens  with  those  who  come  to  the 
city  to  earn  a living, — this  is  impossible,  occasional  or  in- 
cidental immorality  is  a perilous  temptation.  Immoral- 
ity may  thus  by  low  or  irregular  wages  be  almost  woven 
into  the  very  tissue  of  their  lives.  I was  told,  for  ex- 
ample, that  in  certain  English  manufacturing  towns,  such 
as  Bradford  and  Sheffield,  a sliding-scale  is  accepted 
among  some  of  the  girl  operatives ; when  wages  rise  above 
a certain  point,  a virtuous  life  is  required  by  public 
opinion;  when  they  fall  below,  the  source  of  supple- 
mentary earnings  is  not  scrutinized.  The  minimum 
wages  of  the  sewing-women,  factory  hands,  laundresses 
throughout  Europe  do  not  support  the  most  meager  sort 
of  decent  independence.74  An  official  report  states  that 
out  of  226  inscribed  women  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
98  were  laundresses  and  shop-help,  earning  from  1.50 
marks  to  1.80  marks  a day, — less,  that  is,  than  50  cents.75 

less  occupied  as  singers,  dancers,  waitresses,  shophands,  models, 
maids,  laundresses,  nurses,  etc. 

73  Cadbury,  Matheson,  & Shann:  Womens  Work  and  Wages 

(London,  1909)  pp.  246,  247. 

74  The  literature  on  this  topic  is  abundant.  I give  by  way  of 
illustration  a few  references  to  Munich,  where  the  conditions  have 
been  well  investigated : Dr.  Rosa  Kempf,  Das  Leben  der  jungen 
Fabrikmadchen  (Leipzig,  1911).  Dr.  Elizabeth  Hell,  Jugendliche 
Schneiderinnen  und  Ndherinnen  in  Miinchen  (Berlin,  1911).  Meher, 
loc.  cit.,  pp.  110-148.  Also,  Handbuch  der  Frauenbewegung,  already 
mentioned,  passim. 

75  P.  Hirsch,  VerbreChen  und  Prostitution  (Berlin,  1907,  pp.  101- 
102. 


86 


The  Supply 

The  same  holds  true  of  superior  help — dressmakers, 
shop-assistants,  whose  standards  are  necessarily  higher: 
“ these  girls  accept  wages  which  would  not  be  enough  to 
support  them  if  they  had  not  a friend  to  help  them.”  76 

There  remain  the  employments  in  which  only  prosti- 
tutes engage  or  in  which  the  perils  are  so  enormous  that 
a girl  who  has  not  fallen,  soon  will  fall.  Irregular 
earnings  are  tacitly  assumed  as  the  major  or  sole  con- 
sideration in  bargaining  for  a position.  The  chorus, 
ballet,  or  cabaret  girl  can  usually  afford  s“  the  stage  ” 
because  she  is  already  immoral  and  the  glamor  of  the 
footlights  increases  her  earning  capacity;  the  same  con- 
ditions of  course  tend  to  force  into  immorality  a girl 
who  has  hitherto  been  honest.  A monthly  salary  of  io 
marks  ($2.50)  is  paid  the  dancers  at  the  Court  Theater 
in  Hanover;  the  leading  lady  at  Eisenach  draws  15 
marks  ($3.75)  a month  for  a six  months’  season;  a prom- 
inent soubrette  at  Munich  states  that  she  received  an  an- 
nual salary  of  3,600  marks,  from  which  the  outlay  for 
wardrobe  was  1,500  marks;  one  reads  of  salaries  of 
1,200  marks  conjoined  with  wardrobe  expenses  of  2,- 
000  marks;  incomes  of  5,400  marks  and  expenses  of 
8,000  marks.77  If  a decent  girl  objects  to  a salary  of 
20  marks  a week  ($5.00)  on  the  ground  that  it  will  not 
supply  her  necessities  — living,  wardrobe,  etc. — the 
Director  retorts:  “ Why  should  you  want  any  salary? 
You  are  a pretty  girl.”  78  The  maelstrom  thus  tends 

76  C.  E.  Collett,  Educated  Working  Women  (London,  1902)  p.  51. 
As  to  conditions  in  Paris,  see  Revue  d’Economie  Politique , Aug.  1911. 

77  The  German  Stage  and  its  Members , by  Dr.  Charlotte  Engel- 
Reimers  (Leipzig,  1911). 

78  Wilbrandt,  loc.  cit.,  p.  355.  The  whole  section  is  most  valuable. 

87 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

powerfully  to  suck  in  those  not  previously  tainted.  The 
English  barmaids  and  continental  waitresses 79  are  not 
infrequently  virtuous  women,  leading  decent  lives;  but 
they  are  also  often  selected  for  the  lively  manners  so 
certain  to  lead,  if  they  have  not  already  led,  to  extra 
remuneration,  that  only  a nominal  wage  attaches  to 
their  posts.  The  37,000  waitresses  in  Germany  are  re- 
cruited from  among  the  country  or  urban  proletariat, 
whose  invaded  chastity  has  already  been  noticed.  Their 
wages  are  nominal  — or  less ; one- fourth  of  them  are 
under  20  years  of  age.80  It  is  not  surprising  to  find  a 
Berlin  insurance  fund  reporting  that  waitresses  make  up 
one-half  of  those  of  its  numbers  venereally  afflicted.81 
In  England  and  Wales,  of  27,707  barmaids  in  the  Census 
of  1901,  18,251  were  under  25  years  of  age.82  Their 
wages  range  from  5 to  15  shillings  a week.83  Mrs. 
Booth  concludes  that  of  the  prostitutes  in  the  West  End 
of  London,  one- fourth  were  originally  barmaids  and  a 
still  higher  estimate  has  been  made.84  In  many  estab- 
lishments, irregularity  either  precedes  employment  or 
is  common  enough  to  be  taken  into  account  in  determin- 
ing the  conditions  of  employment. 

Nothing  would  be  gained  by  going  into  the  foregoing 
matters  more  thoroughly.  Enough  has  been  said  to  show 
why  in  the  presence  of  the  demand  previously  character- 
ized, an  ample  supply  is  forthcoming,  and  why  it  is  almost 
totally  derived  from  a single  social  stratum.  It  is  de- 

79  Meher,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  133,  etc.  Also : Wilbrandt,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  272, 
etc.,  and  the  Denkschrift  previously  cited. 

80  Denkschrift,  p.  12. 

81  Ibid,  p.  12.  . 83  Ibid,  p.  4. 

82  Women  as  Barmaids  (London,  1905),  p.  8.  8i  Ibid.,  p.  33. 

88 


The  Supply 

rived,  of  course,  with  all  sorts  and  degrees  of  difficulty. 
Sometimes  demoralization  has  set  in  so  early,  or  there 
has  been  so  little  development  of  intelligence  or  char- 
acter, that  the  girl  is  herself  from  the  start  not  only  will- 
ing, but  the  main  instigator;  in  other  cases,  with  intelli- 
gence too  undeveloped  and  character  too  unformed  to 
urge  her  away  from  temptation,  a vague  but  profound 
instinct  holds  her  back  until  her  dumb  resistance  has 
been  overcome  by  other  inducements  or  weakened  by 
alcohol,  pretended  affection  or  interest.  Despite  this 
dark  picture,  however,  most  girls  in  the  various  stations 
described  do  resist  like  a stone  wall.  Of  all  those 
marked  at  any  time  by  a given  characteristic,  the  number 
engaged  in  prostitution  is  rarely  high.  The  huge  total 
is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  variety  of  paths  and  cross-cuts 
by  which  the  morass  may  be  reached. 

So  much  for  the  source  of  supply:  let  us  turn  for  a 
moment  to  its  volume.  Prostitution  is  an  urban  phe- 
nomenon; its  volume  increases  even  more  rapidly  than 
population.  For  as  the  demand  seeks  particularly 
younger  women,  the  older  tend  to  become  a drug  on  the 
market.  It  is  therefore  inevitable  that,  while  there  is 
a comparative  dearth  of  the  youthful,  the  total  supply 
should  be  in  excess  of  the  requirements.  This  situa- 
tion, of  course,  favors  the  exploiter;  for  he  procures 
without  difficulty  and  on  easy  terms  the  commodity 
which  he  pushes  on  the  street,  in  the  bar,  the  dancing 
hall,  the  cafe,  and  the  brothel. 

In  the  case  of  supply,  as  in  the  case  of  demand,  two 
different  problems  present  themselves.  In  so  far  as  in- 
dividual reasons  alone  lead  a girl  of  mature  years  to 

89 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

prostitution  or  deliberately  to  persist  in  prostitution, 
preventive  action  is  both  practically  and  theoretically 
difficult;  prostitution  of  this  kind  is  a reply  to  demand 
or  an  invitation  thereto,  taken  in  its  simplest,  even  if 
not  purely  physiological  form.  Very  different  is  the  situ- 
ation as  respects  supply  arbitrarily  developed  to  satisfy 
a specialized  or  artificial  appetite.  The  girls  thus  in- 
volved are  forced  into  prostitution;  demand  in  the  sense 
just  mentioned  has  not  been  brought  to  bear  upon  them. 
Once  violently  ruined,  however,  they  become  part  of  the 
army  requiring  that  the  mass  of  immorality  be  increased 
so  as  to  sustain  them.  Of  this  type  are  the  white  slave 
cases,  and  those  led  into  ruin  through  employment 
agencies.  In  both  instances,  innocent  girls  are  lured  into 
strange  places,  deceived  with  promises  that  fail  to  ma- 
terialize, and  coerced  into  an  immoral  life,  which  holds 
them  easily  enough  after  their  demoralization  is  com- 
pleted. How  much  of  the  present  supply  is  of  this  forced 
character  it  is  obviously  impossible  to  say.  Stead’s 
revelations  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  in  1885  and  such  in- 
cidents as  the  “ Process  Riehl  ” 85  at  Vienna  disclosed  the 
existence  of  a large  and  active  trade  in  innocent  girls  of 
tender  years. 

We  found  that  there  is  no  reason  to  regard  demand  as 
a fixed  quantity.  The  same  is  obviously  true  of  supply. 
Girls  may  be  forced  into  prostitution;  they  can  also  be 
kept  out.  To  some  extent,  as  they  are  kept  out,  demand 
also  shrinks ; for  the  provocation  is  thereby  reduced.  It 
must  be  altogether  obvious  that  all  social  amelioration 
tends  thus  to  reduce  the  supply,  by  diminishing  exposure 


85  See  p.  185. 


90 


The  Supply 

and  strain.  Within  the  scope  of  this  volume  it  is  im- 
possible even  to  mention  briefly  the  steps  that  have  been 
taken  in  this  direction  in  different  European  countries 
during  recent  years.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  every  effort 
in  social  and  economic  reform,  education,  and  sanitation 
has  tended  to  reduce  the  number  of  prostitutes  and  to 
strengthen  the  resistance  of  those  exposed  to  danger. 

In  addition  to  indirect  and  slow-working  processes  of 
this  kind,  the  problem  has  been  directly  and  in  some  re- 
spects effectively  grappled  with.  Of  these  efforts,  the 
international  movement  for  suppression  of  the  White 
Slave  Traffic  is  the  most  conspicuous.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion that  not  many  years  ago  an  extensive,  though  but 
loosely  organized,  traffic  in  girls  was  carried  on  in  large 
European  cities.  The  bordells  were  thus  recruited  with 
young  and  attractive  inmates.  The  subject  was  first 
brought  to  public  notice  in  1877;  but  little  attention  was 
paid  to  it  until  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  published  a complete 
exposure  in  1885.  Shortly  thereafter  the  British  Vigi- 
lance Society  was  formed;  similar  organizations  were 
then  organized  in  other  countries  and  in  1899  an  in- 
ternational congress  was  held  in  London.  Annual  con- 
gresses now  meet  to  review  progress  and  to  suggest  legis- 
lation; societies  are  everywhere  engaged  in  watching  at 
steamboat  landings  and  railroad  stations  in  order  to 
assist  unaccompanied  travelers  or  to  locate  suspicious 
couples;  and  associations  in  different  countries  endeavor 
by  correspondence  to  run  down  offenders  and  to  release 
their  victims. 

Successful  prosecution  is,  however,  as  a rule,  sur- 
rounded by  many  technicalities.  In  Germany  the 

91 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

statute  provides  that  any  one  who  induces  a female  to 
leave  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution  by 
means  of  concealment  of  his  object  is  liable  to  penal 
servitude  for  five  years,  to  loss  of  citizenship  and  a fine 
of  150  to  6,000  marks.86  But  as  a rule  the  culprit,  if  ar- 
rested, has  made  an  attempt  only,  and  thus  escapes  the 
severe  penalty  here  imposed.  To  avoid  this  pitfall,  the 
congress  of  1910  urged  as  a model  provision  the  follow- 
ing: “ Whoever  procures  a female  for  purposes  of 

prostitution,  abducts,  carries  off,  or  leads  her  into  prosti- 
tution, even  if  the  steps  thereto  occur  in  different  coun- 
tries, shall  be  punished,  etc.”  Several  countries  have 
proceeded  on  this  line,  notably  Hungary,  in  a law  passed 
in  1908.  The  most  advanced  legislation  is,  however,  the 
recent  amendment  of  the  British  Criminal  Law  by  a pro- 
vision empowering  a police  officer  to  arrest  a procurer 
caught  with  a suspected  victim  without  the  delay  involved 
in  procuring  a warrant. 

This  legislation  indicates  the  form  to  which  the  White 
Slave  Traffic  has  been  largely  reduced  in  Europe.  Be- 
yond question  an  innocent  girl  might  be  entrapped,  en- 
ticed, and  immured  in  a European  brothel;  but  if  so,  the 
instance  would  be  an  isolated  crime,  like  a mysterious 
murder  or  robbery.  Under  existing  conditions,  there  is 
absolutely  no  reason  to  think  that  such  cases  occur  fre- 
quently, though  there  are  those  who  would  be  quick  to 
take  advantage  of  any  relaxation  of  vigilance  on  the  part 
of  governments,  the  police,  and  the  private  organizations 
constantly  on  the  alert.  In  the  cases  to  which  from  time 
to  time  attention  has  been  sensationally  called,  the  women 

WReichsgesetzbucln,  sec.  236,  237:  Auswanderergesetz,  sec.  48. 

92 


TKe  Supply 

involved  are  neither  innocent  nor  deceived.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  evidence  to  suggest  that  European  cities 
and  ports  are  utilized  for  purposes  of  transit  to  South 
American  ports  where  the  trade  still  flourishes.  A 
trafficker  may  entice  a girl  from  Poland  and  Galicia  on 
the  promise  of  marriage  or  work;  indeed  every  police 
office  in  Europe  has  a list  of  men  thus  engaged.  The 
countries  from  which  women  are  procured  are  believed 
to  be  mainly  Hungary,  Galicia,  Poland,  and  Roumania; 
the  countries  to  which  they  are  carried,  Brazil,  Argentina, 
South  Africa  and  the  Levant.87  The  pair  steal  through 
Vienna  and  Berlin  and  appear  at  the  dock  in  Hamburg, 
Rotterdam,  London,  or  some  less  prominent  port  just  as 
the  boat  sails  for  Rio  Janeiro,  Buenos  Aires  or  a South 
African  harbor  — too  late  to  procure  a warrant  or  de- 
tailed proof.  The  new  English  law  above  mentioned  is 
calculated  to  deal  with  just  this  emergency:  for  it  au- 
thorizes the  detention  and  arrest  of  such  couples  without 
warrant,  on  suspicion,  and  throws  the  burden  of  proof 
upon  them.88  The  entire  White  Slave  movement  is  thus 
forcible  interference  with  the  making  of  prostitutes.89 

87  E.  Wulffen,  Der  Sexualverbrecher  (Berlin,  1910)  p.  700. 

88 Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act  1912.  Section  1 provides:  A 
constable  may  take  into  custody  without  a warrant  any  person  whom 
he  shall  have  good  cause  to  suspect  of  having  committed  or  of  at- 
tempting to  commit,  any  offence  against  section  two  of  the  Criminal 
Law  Amendment  Act  1885  (which  relates  to  procuration  and  at- 
tempted procuration).  Section  No.  3.  Any  male  person  convicted 
may,  in  addition  to  imprisonment,  be  sentenced  to  be  once  privately 
whipped,  and  the  number  of  strokes  and  the  instrument  shall  be 
specified  by  the  court.  Section  No.  7 deals  with  the  “bully.” 

89  The  most  recent  discussion  of  conditions  in  Germany  is  by 
Polizeirat  Dr.  Robert  Heindl  in  No.  298,  Berliner  Tageblatt.  Dr. 
Heindl  proves  the  following  points:  (1)  White  Slave  Traffic  in  in- 

nocent German  girls  into  foreign  lands  is  of  the  utmost  rarity.  (2) 
It  is  even  questionable  whether  German  ports  are  utilized  for  pur- 

93 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

iWhile  the  traffic  in  young  girls  has  been  thus  greatly 
restricted,  there  is  no  question  that  a trade  in  already 
ruined  women  is  still  carried  on.  Prostitution  is,  as  I 
have  repeatedly  insisted,  a business, — a business,  too,  in 
which  novelty  is  an  important  item.  Deprived  of  a supply 
of  fresh  young  girls,  the  bordell  keeper,  the  proprietor 
of  cabaret,  dance-hall  or  Animierkneipe  must  at  least 
have  variety.  The  trafficker  scours  the  market  for  the 
most  attractive  women  he  can  procure  and  women  are 
thus  kept  in  circulation  through  his  efforts.  He  carries 
on  his  business  in  European  cities,  in  the  Levant  and  in 
the  large  cities  of  South  America. 

The  employment  agency  has  been  similarly  employed 
as  a means  of  forcibly  increasing  supply.  Girls  are  sent 
out  as  servants  into  disreputable  places,  in  the  activities 
of  which  they  have  been  induced  or  compelled  to  take 
part;  or,  they  are  sent  out  of  the  country  as  dancers  or 
singers,  only  to  find  themselves,  on  reaching  their  desti- 
nation, consigned  to  cabarets  in  which  theatrical  enter- 
tainment is  but  a cloak  for  the  exploitation  of  prostitu- 
tion. Newspaper  advertisements  and  the  poste  rest  ante 
are  deceptively  employed  for  the  same  purposes.  Of  the 
numbers  thus  victimized  no  accurate  statement  can  be 
given.  But  preventive  measures  are  being  taken.  The 
London  County  Council  has  undertaken  a strict  regula- 
tion of  the  employment  agency:  establishments  must  be 
annually  licensed,  their  records  must  be  kept  according 

poses  of  transit.  (3)  No  single  case  of  genuine  White  Slavery  has 
been  discovered  in  Saxony  in  the  last  ten  years.  The  General  Sec- 
retary of  the  German  Evangelical  League  for  the  Promotion  of 
Decency  endorses  these  statements.  Pastor  Bohn,  in  Zeitschrift  des 
deutsch-evangelischen  Vereins,  etc.,  July  15,  1913,  p.  49. 


94 


The  Supply 

to  a specified  form,  inspectors  are  free  to  examine  them 
at  will.  Agents  are  prohibited  to  arrange  for  the  em- 
ployment of  females  abroad  unless  the  satisfactory  na- 
ture of  the  employment  has  been  clearly  established ; nor 
even  then  shall  an  agent  arrange  for  the  employment 
abroad  of  a girl  under  sixteen  unless  with  the  written 
consent  of  her  parents  or  lawful  guardian.90  The  worst 
of  the  agencies  abandoned  the  business  as  soon  as  the  new 
regulations  went  into  effect.91  In  Austria,  the  Employ- 
ment Agency  is  regulated  by  the  trade  ordinance;  the 
establishment  must  be  licensed,  those  conducting  it  must 
be  sufficiently  educated,  and  the  business  is  subject  to 
the  inspection  of  the  safety,  health  and  morals  police.92 
A special  license  must  be  obtained  if  international  opera- 
tions are  contemplated.  Books  must  be  kept  according 
to  a prescribed  form,;  girls  under  18  years  of  age  can  in 
no  case  be  sent  out  of  the  country  except  with  the  per- 
mission of  the  Court  of  Chancery;  precautions  are  taken 
to  insure  good  faith  in  the  case  of  older  girls;  the  li- 
cense can  be  canceled  by  the  government  without  no- 
tice.93 There  is  a marked  tendency  to  limit  the  busi- 
ness to  societies  or  the  commune. 

The  pimp  is  connected  with  the  supply  of  prostitutes 
in  two  ways  : he  cultivates  intimacies  with  the  ultimate 
purpose  of  putting  his  victims  or  associates  on  the  street ; 

90  London  County  Council:  Public  Control  Department ; General 
Powers  Act  1910.  Part  V. 

91  Up  to  Oct.  1911,  1,033  applications  for  license  had  been  made, 
1,000  had  been  granted,  8 refused,  23  withdrawn,  2 adjourned.  Re- 
port of  Public  Control  Committee. 

92  Gesetz,  Feb.  5,  1907:  Gewerbsmassige  Dienst  und  Stellenver - 
mittlung.  Sec.  21a. 

93  V er or dnung  des  Handelsministers , May  7,  1908. 


95 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

he  then  drives  them  to  the  utmost,  forcing  them  to  ply 
their  trade  with  all  possible  intensity.  He  is  thus  an 
important  factor  in  increasing  the  number  of  prosti- 
tutes and  the  volume  of  prostitution.  How  formidable 
an  element  he  becomes  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  no- 
where less  than  50%  and  in  most  cities  as  many  as  90 °fo 
of  the  professional  prostitutes  are  declared  by  the  police 
to  support  their  lovers.  In  Paris  the  proportion  is 
given  as  80%  to  90% ; in  London  at  90%.  Of  93  for- 
eign prostitutes  in  Zurich  85  were  proved  to  be  working 
for  souteneurs;  of  204  at  Rotterdam,  130  were  known 
to  be  supporting  their  lovers.94  In  form  they  vary ; now 
appearing  as  base  hangers-on,  now  as  paramours,  again 
as  husbands.  No  European  city  has,  however,  success- 
fully coped  with  the  system.  During  September  and 
October  1891,  350  arrests  were  made  in  Paris  with  only 
14  convictions.95  In  London,  the  numbers  convicted 
have  increased,  though  they  are  still  almost  negligible : in 
1902,  there  were  132  arrests,  with  105  convictions;  in 
1905,  123  arrests  and  95  convictions,  in  1909,  201  and 
167  respectively,  in  1910,  185  and  151.88  Glasgow  shows 
25  successful  convictions  for  the  same  offence  in  1911.97 
The  present  Dutch  law  has  been  in  operation  since  June, 
1911;  up  to  November  15,  1912,  there  were  39  arrests 
and  30  convictions.  In  Vienna  there  were  30  convic- 
tions in  1912.  Wulffen  has  carefully  compiled  the  sta- 
tistics showing  the  extent  to  which  panders  of  all  kinds  — 
the  pimp,  the  owner  of  disorderly  houses,  hotels,  etc. — 

94  Limburg,  loc.  cit p.  17. 

95  Commenge,  loc.  cit.,  p.  90. 

96  Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  Police  of  the  Metropolis. 

97  Criminal  Returns , City  of  Glasgow  Police,  1911. 

96 


The  Supply 

have  been  prosecuted  in  Germany.  Very  striking  are 
two  points,  viz. : that  the  number  of  convictions  has 
risen,  as  public  opinion  has  developed,  and  that  the  total 
represents  even  yet  only  a small  fraction  of  the  guilty. 
In  the  entire  Empire,  between  1883  and  1887,  convic- 
tions were  obtained  in  only  5.18%  of  the  cases;  in  the 
period  1898-1902,  this  figure  had  risen  to  7.3 7%,  an 
increase  of  50%.  Meanwhile  local  differences  are 
enormous:  Berlin  convicted  565, — 43.92%  of  the  ac- 

cused; Cologne,  507, — 39.36%  of  the  accused;  Ham- 
burg, 193, — 15.01%  of  the  accused;  Frankfort  26, — 
2.03%  of  the  accused.1  The  statutes  differ  somewhat 
in  principle  and  detail,  but  the  difficulty  arises  partly 
from  varying  interest  on  the  part  of  the  authorities, 
partly  — nay  largely,  from  the  inherent  reluctance  of 
the  woman  to  testify.  Perhaps  this  vilest  on-hanger  of 
prostitution  is  the  most  difficult  to  lay  hold  of. 

Of  the  various  forms  which  prostitution  takes  the  hor- 
ded plays  a peculiar  part  in  creating  and  intensively 
working  supply;  but,  for  reasons  that  will  appear,  the 
bordell  requires  special  treatment  and  will  occupy  a sep- 
arate chapter.2  It  would  carry  us  far  afield  to  describe 
fully  here  the  other  establishments  that  cater  to  prosti- 
tutes, directly  or  indirectly  inducing  girls  to  enter  the 
life  or  furnishing  facilities  for  the  intensive  pursuit  of 
the  vocation.  The  Animierkneipe,  the  Variety  The- 
ater, the  cafe  and  other  establishments  largely  derive 
their  profit,  direct  or  indirect,  through  affording  an  ever 

1Wulffen,  loc.  cit.,  p.  282.  See  also  Zeitschrift  XII,  pp.  6,  7,  for 
statistics  of  many  German  cities. 

2 Chapter  VI. 


97 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

increasing  supply  an  abundant  opportunity  to  work  up  a 
demand,  that  will  overtake  it.  Prostitution  in  these 
forms  doubtless  answers  in  part  what  I have  loosely 
termed  the  physiological  craving:  that  is  to  say,  men 
bent  on  gratifying  appetite  sometimes  betake  themselves 
to  the  Animierkneipe,  in  the  absence  of  which  they 
would  betake  themselves  elsewhere.  Beyond  all  doubt, 
however,  a fair,  perhaps  a very  large,  share  of  the  im- 
morality connected  with  these  establishments  is  incited 
in  them. 

In  London,  license  to  sell  liquor  was  formerly  granted 
to  music  halls;  no  further  licenses  of  this  kind  are 
granted,  and  one  by  one  licenses  formerly  granted  are 
being  canceled.  A few  well  known  establishments, 
however,  still  remain,  in  which  prostitutes  loiter  about 
the  bar  and  in  the  promenade.  Regular  dance-halls 
where  liquor  is  sold  — as  is  the  case  everywhere  on  the 
Continent  — do  not  exist  in  London,  though  special  per- 
mits for  dances  in  hotels  and  elsewhere  where  liquor  is 
sold  are  obtainable.  A determined  effort  has  however 
been  made  in  Great  Britain  to  break  up  the  close  connec- 
tion between  prostitution  and  the  sale  of  drink.  The 
licensing  act  forbids  an  unaccompanied  woman  to  remain 
in  a cafe  or  public  house  longer  than  a reasonable  time  to 
consume  her  drink.  In  the  provincial  towns  this  law  is 
vigorously  enforced ; saloons  which  violate  it  may  be  de- 
prived of  their  license  on  the  charge  of  harboring  prosti- 
tutes. The  danger  to  the  proprietor  is  a real  one,  for 
the  government  takes  advantage  of  every  legitimate  pre- 
text for  reducing  the  number  of  liquor  establishments. 
In  London  the  law  is  less  consistently  enforced  than  in 

98 


The  Supply 

the  provinces : certain  notorious  resorts  in  and  about  Lei- 
cester Square  remind  one  of  the  continental  cafe. 

On  the  Continent,  however,  little  has  been  done  to 
hinder  the  exploitation  of  prostitution  in  connection  with 
drinking,  dancing,  and  the  theater.  “ In  Paris,  cafes, 
balls  and  theaters  are  from  this  point  of  view,  not  the 
object  of  any  particular  restriction.”  3 In  German  cities, 
these  establishments  fall  under  the  regulations  applicable 
to  business  establishments  and,  for  practical  purposes, 
are  not  molested  as  long  as  outer  decency  is  preserved, 
— the  term  being  as  a rule  rather  broadly  interpreted. 
Public  dance-halls  where  liquor  is  freely  dispensed 
abound  everywhere.  A Zurich  law  sought  to  improve 
conditions  by  forbidding  waiters  to  work  beyond  mid- 
night; but  the  law  is  evaded  by  engaging  a second  set 
to  work  in  the  early  morning  hours ! Stockholm  closes 
all  public  dance-halls,  cafes,  etc.,  at  midnight.  The  po- 
lice could  proceed  against  a vicious  establishment  only 
by  inducing  the  license  bureau  to  revoke  the  permit, 
a step  very  rarely  taken.  Meanwhile  of  the  pernicious 
character  of  these  places  in  wrecking  innocent  girls  and 
facilitating  the  operations  of  prostitute  and  pimp,  there 
is  nowhere  any  question.  “ Legitimate  trade  is  not 
large  enough  to  keep  them  going,”  remarked  the  head 
of  the  Zurich  police.  “ The  women  make  them  pay  by 

3 Statement  of  Prefect  of  Police.  On  the  other  hand  the  fol- 
lowing provision  is  found  in  the  police  regulations  touching  clan- 
destine prostitution : “ Police  commissaries  may  freely  enter 
cabarets  or  cafes  where  clandestine  prostitutes  are  notoriously  har- 
bored, up  to  the  hour  of  closing  or  later  if  the  resorts  are  open  con- 
trary to  police  ordinance.”  Annexes  au  rapport  general  de  la  com- 
mission extraparlementaire  (Melun,  1908),  p.  3.  This  document  in 
two  volumes  (Proces-Verbaux  and  Annexes)  will  be  referred  to  as 
Report,  French  Commission. 


99 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

increasing  the  amount  that  each  customer  drinks.  They 
thus  win  customers  for  themselves.”  The  difficulty  in 
dealing  with  problems  of  this  sort  arises  from  several 
factors  — the  overlapping  of  the  legitimate  and  illegiti- 
mate purposes  which  they  serve,  the  lack  of  a definite 
public  opinion,  and  the  dispersion  of  authority  among 
various  detached  departments. 

An  increasingly  active  interference  with  the  making 
and  forcing  of  supply  is  represented  by  rescue  and  pro- 
tective work.  Religious  and  philanthropic  societies 
maintain  street  workers  who  endeavor  to  reclaim  fallen 
women,  and  homes  in  which  those  in  distress  are  received 
and  rehabilitated.  These  institutions  are  more  highly 
developed  in  England  than  on  the  Continent;  neverthe- 
less attractive  and  wholesome  retreats  have  been  estab- 
lished in  Paris,  Berlin,  Copenhagen  and  elsewhere. 
Nowhere,  however,  is  the  capacity  equal  to  the  demand  or 
the  opportunity.  Of  the  outcome  of  rescue  work,  the  po- 
lice are  naturally  skeptical;  but  it  is  a striking  fact  that 
those  who  have  been  longest  engaged  are  the  most  hopeful. 

There  is,  however,  no  difference  of  opinion  at  all 
as  to  the  superior  importance  of  prevention.  Children 
immediately  exposed  to  demoralization  must  be  removed 
from  danger  and  trained  to  some  useful  and  profitable 
avocation, — for  the  girl  who  possesses  some  form  of  in- 
dustrial skill  is  least  likely  to  err  and  most  likely  to  re- 
cover herself.  The  French  government  has  recently  pro- 
vided for  homes  answering  this  purpose,  but  the  ma- 
chinery by  means  of  which  children  are  to  be  got  into 
them  is  so  clumsy  that  the  legislation  has  proved  ineffec- 
tive. The  recent  Prussian  “ Fiirsorge  Gesetz  ” of  1901 

100 


The  Supply 

(Law  on  Guardianship)  is  much  more  satisfactory.  The 
procedure  is  applicable  to  children  under  18,  but  guard- 
ianship continues  until  the  age  of  21.  In  less  serious 
cases,  children  are  placed  in  families  under  supervision; 
if  the  situation  warrants,  they  are  interned  in  institu- 
tions. In  Prussia,  about  6,000  children  are  yearly 
cared  for  on  these  lines,  of  them  girls,  of  whom  about 
40%  have  already  gone  wrong.  For  the  most  part  their 
domestic  environment  was  bad, — their  birth  illegitimate, 
the  father  alcoholic,  the  mother  immoral,  etc.  This  law 
is  a fair  sample  of  modern  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
state  to  control  the  conditions  under  which  imperiled 
children  are  reared.4  Energy  expended  at  this  stage 
attacks  the  problem  of  supply  at  its  very  source. 

Our  consideration  of  demand  and  supply  has  shown  the 
complicated  character  of  modern  prostitution.  The  im- 
portant point  to  remember,  from  the  standpoint  of  prac- 
tical policy,  is  this.  Supply  is  to  some  extent  artificially 
created  and  demand  is  to  some  extent  artificially  forced; 
whatever  may  be  true  of  minimum  supply  and  demand, 
the  artificial  processes  in  question  are  in  greater  or  less 
degree  socially  controllable  or  modifiable.  This  is,  of 
course,  not  to  say  that  powerful  commercial  interests 
and  social  habits  would  not  resist  interference;  for 
the  abnormalities  in  question  are  at  once  the  product 
and  for  thousands  the  attraction  of  metropolitan  life. 
The  fascination  and  the  curse  of  the  great  city  lie 
thus  close  together, — perhaps  inextricably  so,  as  is  so 
effectively  portrayed  in  the  concluding  scene  of  Char- 

4 The  English  Statute  bearing  on  the  subject  is  the  Children 
Act  of  1908. 


IOI 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

pentier’s  “ Louise.”  With  this  local  pride  to  be  a 
great  city  through  forcing  the  sensual  pace,  modern 
Europe  is  fairly  mad.  Berlin  and  Vienna  are  rich  and 
gay;  the  idle  and  curious  throng  thither  from  all 
quarters  of  the  world.  Smaller  towns  like  Geneva, 
smitten  with  envy,  struggle  to  imitate  the  license  of 
those  great  capitals.  In  so  far,  prostitution  is  in  the 
broadest  sense  a social  problem, — the  problem  of 
rationalizing  human  life,  and  only  indirectly  to  be 
grappled  with. 

Precisely  therefore  as  there  is  nothing  absolutely  fixed, 
predetermined,  and  inevitable  about  the  strength  of  de- 
mand, so  there  is  nothing  fatalistic  about  supply.  In 
general,  the  two  move  together,  one  — either  one  — pro- 
voking the  other.  In  the  end,  they  have  to  be  solved  to- 
gether; but  within  limits,  effective  action  attacking  one 
can  itself  ameliorate  the  other.  Human  nature  is  in- 
deed weak  enough  on  the  sexual  side;  but  the  mass  of 
existing  vice  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  what  would  ex- 
ist on  that  account  alone;  and  one  way  to  abridge  de- 
mand is  to  abridge  supply,  as  it  is  being  abridged  by 
white  slave  legislation,  by  control  of  employment  agen- 
cies, by  care  of  the  unprotected  young  and  by  rational 
management  of  the  drink  and  amusement  traffic.  More- 
over, whatever  interferes  with  intensive  exploitation  vir- 
tually reduces  supply.  As  forced  supply  increases  de- 
mand, so  diminished  and  hampered  supply  to  some  ex- 
tent checks  it. 

Note. — Since  the  above  was  written  the  Report  of  the  Fifth  In- 
ternational Congress  on  the  White  Slave  Traffic  has  appeared.  It 
contains  a complete  account  of  the  various . movements  and  efforts 
above  described.  It  is  published  by  the  National  Vigilance  Associa- 
tion, London. 


102 


CHAPTER  IV 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  LAW 

Apparent  acquiescence  of  European  communities. — Indications  of 
scientific  study  and  action. — Opinion  more  homogenous  than  laws. — • 
Is  prostitution  in  itself  a vice  or  a crime? — Its  exploitation  a crime. 

Despite  the  evidence  to  the  contrary  produced  at  the 
close  of  the  preceding  chapter,  the  notion  is  prevalent 
that  the  conscience  of  Europe  has  been  and  is,  to  put 
it  euphemistically,  philosophic  in  its  attitude  towards 
this  ancient  evil ; that  on  the  Continent  at  least  the  “ old- 
est of  professions  ” is  simply  acquiesced  in,  on  the  theory 
that  “ what  can  not  be  cured  must  be  endured.”  Cer- 
tain external  appearances  seem  to  give  countenance  to 
this  view:  the  prostitute  walks  the  highway  apparently 
unmolested;  she  waits  in  the  cafe  and  music  hall  for 
her  prey;  in  some  cities  the  licensed  bordell  furnishes 
a notorious  market  for  the  buying  and  selling  of  sen- 
sual gratification.  The  situation,  however,  is  less  simple 
than  thus  appears.  Society  has  never,  as  a matter  of 
fact,  for  any  great  length  of  time  contentedly  accepted 
prostitution  as  an  unavoidable  evil.  Periods  of  harsh 
and  unintelligent  repression  have  alternated  with  periods 
of  comparative  but  never  complete  indifference,  conse- 
quent upon  previous  failure.  Recently  much  intelligent 
effort  has  been  directed  to  the  comprehension  of  the  evil 
and  of  the  phenomena  contributing  to  and  contingent 
upon  it.  An  era  of  scientific  study  may  be  fairly  said  to 

103 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

have  set  in.  Wholesale  and  traditional  methods  of  at- 
tack have  been  discredited  and  are  being  discarded. 
Frank  discussion  of  the  subject  as  a social  problem  is 
common  on  the  Continent  and  is  beginning  to  take  place 
in  Great  Britain,  where  it  was  long  tabooed. 

I have  pointed  out  that  prostitution  appears  as  an 
almost  uniform  phenomenon  in  different  European 
countries.  The  same  uniformity  in  the  main  character- 
izes public  opinion  in  reference  to  it.  I mean,  not  that 
every  nation  is  a unit,  but  that  the  general  trend  of  opin- 
ion is  much  the  same  and  that  the  same  shades  of  opin- 
ion exist  in  all  countries.  For  the  most  part,  the  at- 
titude is  indulgent  towards  the  man,  severe  towards  the 
woman;  on  the  other  hand,  the  single  moral  standard 
has  never  been  so  vigorously  advocated  in  Europe  as  it 
is  to-day. 

While  public  opinion  in  regard  to  prostitution  is  thus 
fairly  uniform,  laws  differ  considerably;  but  this  is  of 
less  importance  than  might  be  supposed,  because  the 
general  attitude  of  the  authorities  conforms  to  sentiment 
rather  than  to  statute.  Laws  passed  under  strong  but 
transient  emotional  excitement  are  simply  not  enforced, 
or  are  enforced  so  capriciously  that  they  do  not  affect 
the  situation.  Similarly,  laws  are  sometimes  outlived 
rather  than  repealed.  In  the  long  run  policy  is  in  this 
matter  determined  by  dominant  opinion.  In  France,  as 
we  shall  see,  a very  definite  policy  is  pursued,  not  because 
it  is  laid  down  in  the  law,  but  because  it  is  in  harmony 
with  tradition  and  general  sentiment;  in  Germany  public 
opinion  not  only  sustains  the  authorities  in  ignoring  cer- 
tain laws,  but  actually  compels  them  to  ignore  them;  in 

104 


Prostitution  and  the  Law 


England,  policy,  law  and  opinion  are  more  nearly  in 
unison.  It  is  important  therefore  to  ascertain  what  the 
general  substratum  of  foreign  opinion  is,  for  unless  har- 
monious therewith  laws  are  a dead  letter;  judges  and 
juries  will  not  convict,  prosecutors  and  police  will  not  act 
consistently. 

We  must,  in  the  first  place,  recur  to  a point  already 
made.  Prostitution  is  not  a single  and  simple  phenom- 
enon. Certain  distinctions  must  be  made.  In  one  case, 
prostitution  may  be  the  voluntary  and  unobtrusive  act 
of  two  mature  individuals  presumably  in  full  possession 
of  their  senses;  in  the  next,  it  may  involve  the  exploita- 
tion under  duress  or  otherwise  of  women  for  the  benefit 
of  third  parties;  in  the  next  case,  its  salient  feature  may 
be  offensive  provocation  by  the  woman  for  the  purpose 
of  inducing  men  to  indulge  in  immorality.  From  the 
standpoint  of  law,  public  opinion  and  police  policy  these 
different  phases  or  aspects  of  the  practice  of  prostitution 
present  different  problems.  For  the  moment  it  is  only 
the  first  of  these  varieties  with  which  we  deal.  In  refer- 
ence to  prostitution  thus  taken  in  its  simplest  form  as 
the  voluntary  and  unobtrusive  act  of  two  adults,  the 
practical  and  fundamental  question  which  confronts  law- 
maker and  administrator  is  this:  Is  the  mere  act  of 

prostitution,  is  prostitution  taken  by  and  in  itself,  a vice 
or  a crime? 

In  general  the  line  between  vice  and  crime  can  not 
be  clearly  drawn,  for  the  question  is  one  for  the 
publicist,  not  one  of  abstract  ethics.  It  lies  now  here, 
now  there,  according  to  circumstances.1  Crimes  are 

1An  interesting  example  of  just  such  shifting  is  afforded  by 

io5 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

such  acts  as  are  reprobated  by  unified  opinion  and  as 
such  punishable  by  the  crude  process  of  the  law;  vices 
are  repugnant  to  the  cultivated  instincts  of  society.  An 
act  — prostitution,  for  example,  may  have  all  the  dis- 
astrous consequences  of  crime,  and  yet  in  a given  society 
not  be  reachable  as  such.  Whether  it  is  or  not  depends 
partly  on  public  opinion,  partly  on  the  difficulty  and  the 
consequences  of  applying  penal  methods. 

Whatever  be  the  legal  theory,  public  opinion  in  Europe 
to-day  regards  the  prostitution  of  mature  individuals  in 
the  first  of  the  senses  above  characterized  as  in  itself  a 
vice,  not  a crime.  We  shall  shortly  hear  that  under 
certain  conditions  professional  prostitution  is  penalized; 
but  it  will  appear  on  closer  examination  that  the  penalty 
in  so  far  as  it  is  actually  sustained  by  opinion  and  en- 
forced by  the  courts  or  otherwise  attaches  not  to  prostitu- 
tion in  and  for  itself,  and  not  to  the  prostitute  as  a person, 
but  only  to  certain  overt  acts  and  to  certain  surround- 
ing or  attendant  conditions.  There  is  indeed  a distinct 
tendency  against  the  extension  of  the  conception  of  crim- 
inality to  the  act  itself.  In  other  words,  opinion  is 
plainly  in  favor  of  viewing  prostitution  as  a vice,  not  as 
a crime,  wherever  the  criminal  view  is  not  forced  by  con- 
ditions extraneous  to  the  person  or  to  the  mere  act  of 
immorality. 

This  can  not  be  for  the  reason  that  prostitution  is  a 
less  serious  evil  than  was  formerly  supposed:  on  the 

the  opium  traffic.  The  smoking  of  opium  in  China  had  long  been 
looked  upon  as  at  most  a harmful  vice;  according  to  E.  A.  Ross 
( The  Changing  Chinese,  p.  140)  it  has  at  length  become  possible 
to  treat  it  as  a crime  and  vigorous  action  looking  to  the  suppression 
of  opium  smoking  is  said  to  be  in  successful  operation.  Public 
opinion  had,  however,  first  to  undergo  a complete  transformation. 

106 


Prostitution  and  the  Law 


contrary,  never  before  have  its  disastrous  consequences 
been  so  clearly  and  fully  apprehended;  nor  because  the 
law  is  indifferent  as  to  the  form  which  sex  relationship 
takes,  for  it  expressly  declares  in  favor  of  the  monog- 
amous married  state.  An  explanation  must  be  sought 
in  an  entirely  different  direction. 

I have  previously  pointed  out  the  fact  that  prostitu- 
tion is  a conception  necessarily  involving  two  factors, 
both  equally  essential.  It  so  far  resembles  slavery:  if 
there  are  slaves,  there  must  be  slaveholders;  if  slavery 
is  a disgrace,  then  the  slaveholder  must  bear  his  full  por- 
tion of  obloquy.  If  prostitution  is  a vice,  both  parties 
are  vicious;  if  it  be  a crime,  both  parties  are  criminals. 
Now  as  a matter  of  history,  no  proposition  aiming  at 
punishment  has  ever  involved  both  participants.  The 
harlot  has  been  branded  as  an  outcast  and  flung  to  the 
wolves:  she  alone, — never  the  man,  her  equal  partner 
in  responsibility.  And,  indeed,  not  even  the  harlot  uni- 
formly. The  poor  and  stupid  have  been  the  victims ; the 
showy  courtesan,  pursuing  roundabout  methods,  has 
never  been  molested.  Something  more  than  justice  has 
thus  been  violated ; the  very  objects  of  punitive  policy  have 
been  sacrificed.  For  prostitution  must  be  punished  if  at 
all,  because  its  consequences  are  bad.  Yet  so  long  as 
the  woman  alone  suffers,  these  consequences  are  not 
abated.  In  defining  prostitution  we  recognized  certain 
criteria  as  accounting  for  society’s  objection  to  its  ex- 
istence— the  waste  it  involves,  the  disease  it  spreads, 
the  demoralization  it  entails.  Punishment  of  the 
woman  in  any  particular  case  stops  none  of  the  these ; the 
man  simply  wastes  his  substance  upon  others;  contracts 

107 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

disease  from  other  women  and  carries  it  elsewhere,  even 
into  his  own  family;  corrupts  others,  in  case  a previous 
associate  has  been  put  out  of  reach  by  the  law.  To 
make  prostitution  a crime  for  the  woman  alone  is  there- 
fore at  once  inequitable  and  futile.  It  is  likewise  be- 
coming progressively  more  difficult.  As  long  as  socie- 
ties were  organized  on  the  theory  of  male  superiority, 
the  woman  could  perhaps  be  singled  out  to  bear  alone  the 
burden  of  a dual  offence.  But  that  day  is  past.  The- 
oretically, the  equal  ethical  responsibility  of  both  sexes  in 
every  relation  in  life  is  already  recognized;  it  is  rapidly 
becoming  incorporated  in  law.  With  the  probable  ad- 
vent of  woman  suffrage,  it  will  become  operative  in  fact. 
The  stigma  and  consequence  of  crime  must  therefore 
be  either  removed  from  the  woman  or  affixed  to  the  man. 

As  to  the  latter,  certain  difficulties  interpose.  The 
professional  prostitute  being  a social  outcast  may  be 
periodically  punished  without  disturbing  the  usual  course 
of  society:  no  one  misses  her  while  she  is  serving  out 
her  turn  — no  one,  at  least,  about  whom  society  has 
any  concern.  The  man,  however,  is  something  more 
than  partner  in  an  immoral  act:  he  discharges  important 
social  and  business  relations,  is  as  father  or  brother  re- 
sponsible for  the  maintenance  of  others,  has  commercial 
or  industrial  duties  to  meet.  He  can  not  be  imprisoned 
without  deranging  society.  Is  the  offence  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  make  this  advisable  or  feasible? 

Assuredly,  as  matters  now  stand,  it  is  not  feasible. 
It  is  not  feasible  for  men ; it  is  not  really  feasible  for  the 
women  either;  indeed  in  the  case  of  many  women,  the 
same  difficulty  arises  that  I have  just  pointed  out  in  the 

108 


Prostitution  and  the  Law 


case  of  men.  We  have  long  since  learned  that  the  bulk 
of  women  engaged  in  prostitution  are  also  more  or  less 
otherwise  employed.  They  may  be  aiding  to  support 
their  families,  by  their  legitimate  as  well  as  by  their 
illegitimate  earnings.  Are  these  women  to  be  plucked 
from  their  employments  under  conditions  not  enforced 
against  their  male  partners?  No  society  in  which 
prostitution  is  held  to  implicate  two  parties  will  tolerate 
it.  Moreover,  if  the  criminal  charge  is  to  lie  against 
the  professional  prostitute  alone,  how  is  the  line  to  be 
drawn?  The  women  concerned  are,  as  we  learned,  pro- 
fessionals one  day,  incidentals  the  next;  at  some  other 
time  they  may  be  leading  an  immoral  life,  yet  not 
that  of  a prostitute.  Finally,  in  view  of  the  tendency 
of  women  to  leave  the  life,  is  it  wise  to  coerce  them  to 
cling  to  it  by  branding  them  as  criminals  ? The  attempt 
to  view  prostitution  as  in  itself  a crime  is  therefore  in- 
expedient as  well  as  unjust. 

“ When  society  declares  a certain  act  punishable  ” 
says  Johansson,  “ a general  feeling  of  equity  requires 
that  all  actions  of  similar  nature  performed  under  similar 
circumstances  be  likewise  declared  punishable.  If  it  ap- 
pears to  be  a matter  of  insuperable  difficulty  to  apply 
the  punishment  to  an  extent  in  some  way  satisfying  the 
demand  of  the  public  for  a wide  and  equal  application 
of  the  law,  it  is  better  to  refrain  from  any  application 
of  punishment  at  all.  There  is  no  reason  to  fear  that 
moral  indignation  and  its  beneficent  effects  on  individ- 
uals will  therefore  cease,  for  it  is  not  the  punishment 
that  produces  the  indignation/’  2 

2 Reglementeringsfragan,  loc  cit.,  p.  51. 

109 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

There  is  still  another  aspect  of  the  problem.  Investi- 
gation shows  that  irregular  sex  intercourse  on  the  part 
of  the  male  is  practically  universal  on  the  Continent. 
That  some  of  it  is  casual  and  unpaid,  the  rest  purely 
mercenary,  only  aggravates  the  difficulty;  for  no  one 
proposes  to  treat  mere  immorality  as  a crime  and  in  con- 
crete cases  it  may  be  technically  impossible  to  make  out 
whether  a specific  act  is  prostitution  or  immorality.  An 
act  universally  indulged  in  by  men  may  be  universally 
deplored  as  a weakness ; it  cannot  be  universally  punished 
as  criminal  unless  all  men  join  in  penalizing  one  another. 

Other  difficulties  also  arise  to  prevent  the  acceptance 
of  the  crime  concept.  Prostitution  and  commerce  there- 
with are  indeed  deplorable,  but  whence,  it  is  asked,  does 
the  State  derive  the  right  to  interfere  with  the  voluntary 
exercise  of  personal  liberty  by  mature  individuals,  so 
long  as  no  one  else  is  disturbed  thereby?  We  touch  here 
the  root  of  the  European  view  of  the  matter.  The  Eng- 
lish urge  that  personal  liberty  in  this  realm  can  be  in- 
fringed only  to  prevent  scandal, — that  is,  only  when 
something  beyond  mere  prostitution  is  involved.  “ A 
woman  may  become  mistress  or  paramour,”  said  a 
high  police  official  to  me,  “ she  may  indulge  in  occa- 
sional immorality  as  she  pleases, — why  not  in  prostitu- 
tion? She  is  only  using  her  personal  freedom.”  Still 
more  plain-spoken  was  a Dutch  authority : “ A grown 

girl  may  do  what  she  likes  with  her  own  body.”  No  one 
hopes  successfully  to  interfere  by  means  of  penal  legis- 
lation with  the  occasional  immorality  of  two  individuals; 
laws  aiming  to  punish  fornication  and  adultery  are  there- 
fore practically  dead  letters,  not  only  because  proof  is 


no 


Prostitution  and  the  Law 


difficult,  but  because  it  is  commonly  held  to  be  no  concern 
of  the  State,  provided  both  parties  to  the  acts  are  willing. 
They  are  vices,  therefore,  not  crimes,  as  societies  are 
now  constituted.  In  the  same  category,  contemporary 
opinion  in  Europe  is  more  and  more  inclined  to  place 
prostitution.  The  unanimous  enunciation  of  the  French 
Extra-Parliamentary  Commission  fairly  expresses  pres- 
ent day  feeling:  “The  prostitution  of  women  does  not 

constitute  a crime  and  does  not  fall  under  the  application 
of  the  penal  law.”  3 This  dictum,  be  it  noted,  applies 
only  to  prostitution  in  so  far  as  it  involves  only  two 
adults  without  annoyance  or  profit  to  others.  Nor  is  it 
to  be  understood  as  implying  that  society  is  either  in- 
different or  helpless.  Denied  the  use  of  the  criminal 
arm  it  still  possesses  all  the  paraphernalia  of  education, 
hygiene,  and  social  reform.  Our  previous  discussion  of 
demand  and  supply  will  have  suggested  that  in  the  end 
enlightenment  is  of  broader  scope  perhaps  than  punish- 
ment,— even  though,  as  we  shall  discover,  the  latter  has 
its  place. 

The  foregoing  interpretation  of  the  present  state  of 
opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that,  with  the  qualifica- 
tion to  be  shortly  mentioned,  prostitution  is  on  the  whole 
practically  regarded  in  the  same  light  by  all  European 
nations.  The  qualification  in  question  has  reference  to 
controlled  or  inscribed  prostitutes — -who  form  a class 
apart,  are  indulged  or  punished  on  lines  peculiar  to  them- 
selves and  for  reasons,  ostensible  and  actual,  that  will  be 
fully  discussed  later.4  The  point  I now  wish  to  empha- 

3 Fiaux,  loc.  cit.,  II,  p.  873. 

4 See  Chapters  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII. 


Ill 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

size  is  this:  that  the  general  attitude  of  the  European 
authorities  towards  prostitution  in  its  totality  is  practically 
the  same,  though  the  laws  differ;  and  it  is  the  same, 
because  public  opinion  is  so  nearly  homogeneous. 

In  England,  Italy,  Norway,  Holland,  and  Switzer- 
land,5 there  is  no  penal  enactment  against  prostitution  as 
such.  “ Immorality  in  itself  is  not  an  offence  against 
the  law,”  6 declares  the  Chief  Constable  of  Glasgow  in  a 
memorandum  to  the  Corporation.  A woman  therefore 
runs  no  risk  of  prosecution  if  quietly  and  inoffensively 
she  receives  men  in  her  room  or  house  for  the  purpose 
of  paid  sexual  intercourse.7  In  France  the  ancient  laws 
against  immorality  were  swept  away  by  the  Code  Na- 
poleon. Since  then,  an  inoffensive  prostitute  has  been 
absolutely  free  to  ply  her  trade  without  danger  of  mo- 
lestation by  the  police.  We  shall  later  learn  that  the 
police  have  indeed  laid  hands  on  several  thousand  prosti- 
tutes whom  they  require  to  comply  with  certain  regula- 
tions; but  we  shall  also  see  that  this  is  but  a negligible 
portion  of  the  army  engaged  in  prostitution,  that  there 
exist  peculiar  reasons  for  singling  them  out  for  attention, 
that  they  are  not  thus  distinguished  merely  because 
they  are  prostitutes,  and  that  even  so  the  police  posi- 
tion in  reference  to  them  is  becoming  increasingly  un- 
tenable. 

A more  complicated  legal  situation  in  Germany  works 
out  in  much  the  same  way.  On  its  face  the  penal  code 

5 The  situation  in  the  Swiss  Cantons  is  fully  dealt  with  by 
Theodor  Weiss : Die  Prostitutionsfrage  in  der  Schweiz  und  das 
schweizerische  Gesetzbuch  (Bern,  1906). 

6 Under  date,  Nov.  20,  1911. 

7 The  subject  is  more  fully  discussed  in  Chap.  IX. 


1 12 


Prostitution  and  the  Law 


punishes  professional  prostitution  for  money,8 — i.e., 
prostitution  is  itself  a crime.  The  section  reads : “ Any 
woman  shall  be  punished  with  imprisonment,  who  hav- 
ing been  placed  under  police  control  on  account  of  pro- 
fessional prostitution,  violates  regulations  adopted  by  the 
police  for  the  protection  of  health,  order  and  decency, 
or  any  woman,  who,  not  having  been  placed  under  such 
control,  carries  on  prostitution  for  pay.” 9 A certain 
number  of  women  have  been  placed  under  police  control ; 
so  long  as  these  obey  police  regulations  affecting  “ health, 
order  and  decency,”  their  professional  prostitution  is 
free  from  interference;  in  so  far  as  they  are  concerned, 
professional  prostitution  is  not  a crime.  But  the  great 
majority  of  German  prostitutes  are  not  under  police  con- 
trol; they  are  therefore  liable  to  criminal  prosecution  as 
being  professional  prostitutes.  It  is,  however,  a noto- 
rious fact  that  prosecution  simply  on  this  score  is  not 
attempted.  In  Germany  as  in  France,  the  inoffensive 
prostitute  is  not  molested.  Practically,  prostitution  for 
money,  called  a crime  by  the  law,  is  treated  as  a vice  by  the 
authorities.10  Women  are  indeed  sentenced  to  prison 
terms  in  accordance  with  provisions  quoted;  but  on  in- 
vestigation it  will  be  discovered  that  they  are  arrested  not 

8 It  will  be  noted  that  two  things  are  punishable : Prostitution  for 

money;  violation  of  regulations  by  enrolled  women. 

9 Strafgesetzbuch  fur  das  Deutsche  Reich:  361,  6. 

10  This  subject  will  be  much  more  fully  discussed  in  the  ensuing 
chapters.  An  additional  word  may  be  here  added  for  the  sake 
of  clearness.  The  police  can  at  any  moment  arrest  a prostitute  as  a 
criminal;  but,  as  a matter  of  fact,  they  do  not  do  so  unless  she  is 
guilty  of  something  besides  prostitution.  If,  for  example,  a 
woman  restricts  her  operations  inconspicuously  to  her  own  room, 
she  is  no  less  a prostitute  amenable  to  the  letter  of  the  law;  but 
the  authorities  would  not  interfere.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  she 
made  a nuisance  of  herself;  arrest  would  follow.  Robbery  is  in 

113 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

for  prostitution,  but  for  disorder,  though  they  are  nom- 
inally punished  as  prostitutes. 

The  statutory  provisions  respecting  the  prostitute's 
domicile  are  similarly  interpreted.  The  law  is  very  ex- 
plicit : “ Whoever  habitually  or  for  profit  assists  prosti- 

tution by  countenancing  or  affording  facilities  for  it,  is 
to  be  punished  with  imprisonment  for  not  less  than  one 
month,  and  is  liable  to  fine,  besides,  of  from  150  to  6,000 
marks,  and  to  loss  of  franchise.  In  case  of  mitigating 
circumstances,  imprisonment  can  be  reduced  to  one 
day."  11  Under  the  terms  of  this  statute,  the  keeper  of 
a licensed  bordell,  the  hotel  proprietor  who  lets  rooms 
for  purposes  of  assignation,  the  landlord  who  knows  that 
his  lodger  is  a prostitute,  are  all  guilty  of  crime.  Nay, 
it  has  been  held  that  merely  renting  a room  to  a woman 
for  the  purpose  is  criminal  even  though  criminal  use  is 
not  actually  made  of  it;  further,  that  the  words  “ for 
profit  ” do  not  mean  that  money  must  be  received ; food, 
drink,  sexual  gratification  may  form  the  profit.  By  an- 
other section  of  the  same  law,  the  definition  of  pander- 
ing is  still  further  extended.12 

A small  section  of  the  German  people  would  undoubt- 
edly like  to  see  the  enforcement  of  these  laws  attempted ; 
but  generally  speaking,  people  realize  that  suppression  on 
such  lines  is  unfair  and  impossible  and  that  the  undertak- 
ing would  be  disastrous  to  the  police.  For  the  laws 
bear  on  the  woman  and  the  renter,  wholly  passing  over 

Germany  a crime  and  is  treated  as  such  no  matter  how  it  takes 
place;  prostitution  is  a crime  if  additional  circumstances  make  it 
worth  while  to  treat  it  as  such.  That  is  to  say,  in  itself  it  is 
practically  not  a crime,  but  a vice. 

11  Ibid.,  Sections  180-1. 

12  Ibid,  Sec.  181. 


Prostitution  and  the  Law 


the  man,  who  is  at  least  the  accomplice  and  perhaps  in- 
stigator. As  a matter  of  fact,  therefore,  no  steps  are 
taken  against  the  keepers  of  such  bordells  as  are  con- 
ducted on  lines  sanctioned  by  the  police;  inoffensively 
conducted  rendezvous  hotels  are  not  molested ; and 
women  rent  rooms  freely  wherever  they  please,  without 
danger  to  themselves  or  their  landlords,  so  long  as  all 
external  proprieties  are  observed.  That  is  to  say,  the 
law  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  prostitution  is  for  all 
practical  purposes  a vice,  not  a crime.  Once  more,  the 
court  calendars  show  more  or  less  numerous  prosecu- 
tions for  “ pandering,”  i.  e.,  for  infractions  of  the  para- 
graphs in  question.  Between  1903  and  1907,  the  prose- 
cutions averaged  343  annually  in  Cologne;  in  Frankfort, 
373;  in  Stuttgart,  57.13  These  figures  tell  the  tale; 
landlords  are  punished  if  attention  is  drawn  to  them  by 
scandal  or  otherwise;  but  the  letter  of  the  law,  requiring 
wholesale  eviction,  is  ignored,  because  — among  other 
reasons  — it  is  unsupported  by  public  opinion.  “ Simple 
experience  teaches  that  the  standpoint  cannot  be  main- 
tained.” 14  “ The  penal  code  proposes  to  punish  any  one 

who  rents  a home  to  the  prostitute,”  writes  Blaschko. 
“ That  is  an  insupportable  condition.  Excessive  severity 
leads  to  arbitrary  punishment  of  a few  individuals,  while 
the  mass  go  unpunished.  The  prostitute  pays  a higher 
rent  to  offset  the  landlord’s  risk.”  15  To  the  same  effect 
writes  Schmolder : “ According  to  the  law,  a prostitute 

13  Zeitschrift,  XII,  p.  6,  where  statistics  for  other  German  cities 
are  also  given. 

14  Wulffen,  loc.  cit.,  p.  682. 

15  Blaschko,  Art.  Prostitution,  in  Handworterbuch  der  Stoats - 
wissenschaften  (Jena,  1910)  p.  1239. 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

is  not  entitled  to  have  a domicile  at  all ; — in  practice 
they  do  anyway.”  16 

What  has  long  been  a dead  letter,  the  newly  pro- 
jected criminal  code  proposes  now  frankly  to  omit.  If 
the  present  draft  is  adopted  the  law  will  henceforth  read : 
“ Whoever  habitually  or  for  profit  furnishes  facilities 
for  prostitution  shall  be  punished  with  imprisonment. 
This  provision  is  not  to  be  applied  to  the  renting  of 
lodgings  unless  the  landlord  undertakes  to  get  a higher 
price  through  permitting  prostitution  on  the  prem- 
ises.” 17  The  new  paragraph  thus  seeks  to  free  prostitu- 
tion as  such  from  prosecution  by  enabling  the  prostitute 
to  live  wherever  a landlord  is  willing  to  rent  her  a room  on 
the  same  basis  as  anyone  else ; but  a landlord  who  becomes 
a pander  to  the  extent  of  encouraging  prostitution  for 
the  sake  of  obtaining  high  rentals  remains  amenable  to 
the  law.  A subsequent  paragraph  still  further  frees  the 
prostitute  as  such  from  punishment;  it  reads:  “ A per- 

son shall  be  punished  by  arrest  or  imprisonment,  who  is  a 
professional  prostitute,  provided  he  or  she  violates  the 
regulations  set  up  for  the  protection  of  health,  order  and 
decency.”  18  That  is,  the  penalties  are  attached  not  to 
the  prostitute  as  such,  but  in  so  far  as  she  oversteps 
limits  imposed  by  the  police  for  the  maintenance  of  health 
and  order.  Thus  the  law  will  be  squared  with  practice. 
In  one  respect  also  the  proposed  statute  registers  an  ad- 
vance in  public  opinion,  for  it  substitutes  “ person  ” for 

16  R.  Schmolder,  Die  Prostituierten  und  das  Strafrecht  (Munich, 
1911),  p.  19. 

17  Vorentwurf  zu  einem  deutschen  Strafgesetzbuch  (Berlin,  1909) 
Section  251. 

18  Ibid , Section  305,  4. 


ii  6 


Prostitution  and  the  Law 


“ woman  ” and  thus  opens  the  way  for  a more  equal 
treatment  of  the  sexes. 

To  the  foregoing  discussion,  the  theory  and  practice  of 
other  countries  add  very  little.  A general  conviction 
that  prostitution  is  an  evil  not  to  be  tamely  endured 
has  led  lawmakers  from  time  to  time  to  endeavor  to 
stamp  it  out  on  penal  lines ; but  invariably  the  considera- 
tions previously  adduced  have  undermined  the  legislation 
in  question.  Thereupon  much  ingenuity  has  been  ex- 
pended in  some  places  in  the  effort  to  gain  another  foot- 
hold. Granted, — say  the  lawmakers  in  Hungary  and 
Denmark  — that  prostitution  in  itself  cannot  be  treated 
as  a crime ; at  any  rate,  the  prostitute  is  a vagrant,  in  that 
she  is  without  legitimate  means  of  support.  She  can 
therefore  be  put  to  hard  labor  as  a public  menace,  not 
because  she  is  a prostitute,  but  because  she  is  a parasite. 
And  in  this  determination, — it  is  argued  — there  is  no 
unfairness,  since  male  tramps  and  vagrants  are  similarly 
disposed  of. 

This  indirect  and  disingenuous  method  of  treating 
prostitution  as  a crime  has  had,  in  practice,  precisely  the 
same  fate  as  has  befallen  more  candid  legislation.  In 
the  first  place,  it  is  dishonest : a vagrant  is  homeless ; the 
prostitute  is  a vagrant,  therefore,  only  if  she  is  without  a 
domicile.  Fairness  requires,  therefore,  that  only  home- 
less prostitutes  be  taken  up  as  vagrants  and  for  that  no 
special  legislation  is  needed!  The  statute  will  obviously 
not  be  invoked  against  prostitutes  generally ; public  opin- 
ion sustains  its  application  only  when  there  are  other  ob- 
jections than  prostitution, — viz.,  homelessness,  intoxica- 
tion, etc.,  and  such  offences  can  be  otherwise  reached. 

ii  7 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

Moreover,  in  so  far  as  the  prostitute  is  in  reality  aimed  at 
through  the  subterfuge  of  vagabondage,  the  man-accom- 
plice once  more  escapes  — an  intolerable  condition,  as  I 
have  already  shown.19  It  remains  then  generally  true 
that,  despite  all  legislation  and  endeavor  to  the  contrary, 
prostitution  in  its  elemental  form  is  regarded  as  a vice, 
not  a crime. 

The  situation  as  respects  public  opinion  alters  de- 
cidedly, however,  the  moment  the  act  involves  others  be- 
side the  two  participants.  As  soon  as  order,  decency, 
the  contamination  of  minors,  or  the  interest  of  an  ex- 
ploiter is  involved,  a totally  different  question  arises.  A 
man  and.  a woman  may  be  permitted  unobtrusively  to 
arrange  and  carry  out  a rendezvous.  So  far  there  ap- 
pears to  be  no  police  method  of  dealing  with  them  ef- 
fectively and  impartially.  Public  sentiment  is  not  ready ; 
efficient  agencies  have  not  been  created;  fundamental 
questions  of  personal  liberty  may  be  raised.  But  when 
the  streets  are  used  to  carry  on  negotiations  and  thereby 
others  are  drawn  into  the  maelstrom ; when  third  parties, 
— be  they  pimps,  bordell  keepers,  venders  of  liquor  and 
entertainment,  or  others, — endeavor  to  develop  prostitu- 
tion for  their  own  profit;  when  disease  is  communicated, 
not  infrequently  to  innocent  persons:  in  all  such  cases 
a third  party  is  concerned;  and  a public  that  was  more 
or  less  indifferent  as  to  what  took  place  between  two  ma- 
ture individuals  has  become  increasingly  clear  as  to  its 
interest  and  duty.  The  measures  which  were  explained 
in  the  preceding  chapter  are  required  and  justified  on 
this  ground.  The  state  prohibits  the  manufacture  of 

19  The  subject  is  more  fully  treated  in  Chapter  IX,  p.  334. 

1 18 


Prostitution  and  the  Law 


prostitutes  by  heavily  penalizing  the  white  slave  traffic; 
it  attacks  the  pimp  system  on  the  score  of  its  inhumanity 
and  because  it  seeks  to  widen  artificially  the  scope  of  the 
prostitute’s  operations;  the  bordell,  the  liquor  shop,  the 
low  cabaret  are  in  the  same  category.  Wherever  a case 
can  be  made  out  against  a third  party,  the  law  tends  to 
become  increasingly  explicit  and  severe,  for  the  reason 
that,  even  though  prostitution  itself  be  only  a vice,  its 
exploitation  for  the  benefit  of  others  violates  every  con- 
ception of  humanity  and  needlessly  extends  the  range  of 
demoralization  and  disease. 

The  general  European  attitude  may  then  be  summed 
up  as  follows.  The  two  participants  in  every  immoral 
act  are  more  and  more  coming  to  be  viewed  as  of  equal 
responsibility.  Their  conduct  is  as  between  themselves 
and  themselves  alone,  vicious  and  not  criminal.  It  be- 
comes criminal  the  moment  it  becomes  open,  involving 
annoyance  to  others.  In  still  higher  degree  does  crim- 
inality attach  to  any  third  party  who  profits  by  promot- 
ing, stimulating,  or  countenancing  the  immorality  of 
others.  The  differentiation  here  indicated  has  by  no 
means  been  consistently  carried  out  anywhere  in  practice 
or  in  theory;  the  laws  lack  codification,  and  authority 
is  more  or  less  dispersed;  but  opinion  is  traveling  in  the 
direction  indicated,  and  law  and  administration  are  tak- 
ing their  cue  from  it. 

The  change  of  opinion  from  the  crime  concept  to  the 
vice  concept  of  prostitution  accompanies  and  denotes  not 
less,  but  greater,  public  concern  on  the  subject.  For  it 
betokens  a critical  and  discriminating  study  of  the  prob- 
lem,— a reduction  of  its  vast  total  into  constituent  ele- 

119 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ments,  each  to  be  met  by  its  own  appropriate  procedure. 
The  societies  whose  laws  indiscriminately  denounced  all 
immorality  as  crime  are  conspicuous  for  the  futility  of 
most  of  the  steps  which  they  took  in  dealing  with  it. 
Results  have  appeared  coincidentally  with  discrimina- 
tion. The  scientific  attitude  has  also  introduced  a ma- 
ture and  deliberate,  though  not  of  course  facile,  hope- 
fulness. A highly  learned  German  authority  disputes 
even  the  necessity  of  prostitution:  “ What  is  evil  in 

prostitution  is  not  necessary  and  what  is  necessary  is  not 
evil/’  20 

The  situation  as  now  characterized  is,  however,  re- 
tarded and'  confused  by  legislation,  police  regulations 
and  habits  of  thought  that  represent  mere  survivals  from 
a standpoint  now  becoming  obsolete.  They  are  tena- 
ciously held  to  because,  whatever  view  may  be  entertained 
as  to  far-reaching  policies,  prostitution  still  exists  as  an 
evil  to  be  managed  as  part  of  the  day’s  work.  Most 
conspicuous  among  the  traditional  policies  of  the  Con- 
tinent is  Regulation,  to  the  examination  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing chapters  will  be  devoted. 

20  Bloch,  Die  Prostitution,  Vol.  I,  toe.  cit.,  p.  3.  It  is  interesting 
and  suggestive  to  encounter  the  same  attitude  in  the  writings  of  a 
police  commissioner.  Limburg  ( loc . cit.,  p.  16),  protesting  against 
the  view  that  prostitution  is  a permanent  necessity,  writes : “ Who- 

ever undertakes  to  fight  vice,  either  by  individual  labor  or,  where 
the  authoritites  are  concerned,  by  legal  or  other  measures,  is  by  no 
means  entering  upon  a hopeless  cause  and,  with  judicious  choice 
of  weapons,  has  some  chances  of  success.” 


120 


CHAPTER  V 


REGULATION  AND  ORDER  — THE  STREETS 

Regulation  defined. — General  description  of  the  system. — Regu- 
lation in  Berlin. — Compulsory  and  voluntary  inscription. — The  Sit- 
tenpolizei  (Morals  Police). — Variations  from  the  Berlin  system. — 
The  Paris  system. — Additional  variations. — Lack  of  legal  sanction. — 
Administrative  punishment. — Liberality  of  regulation  in  Vienna. — 
Varying  size  of  the  morals  police  division. — No  approved  system  of 
regulation. — All  alike  arbitrary  in  character. — Inscription  lists  rela- 
tively small. — General  tendency  downwards. — Objections  to  regula- 
tion from  standpoint  of  rescue  and  preventive  effort. — Objections 
to  summary  police  process. — The  inscription  of  minors. — So-called 
clandestine  prostitution. — Omissions. — Disappearances. — External 
order  in  regulated  cities. — Failure  of  regulation  to  affect  conditions. 
— Regulation  inconsistent  with  strict  order  on  streets. — Arrests  for 
infraction  of  rules. 

I have  thus  far  endeavored  to  convey  some  notion  of 
the  complexity  and  extent  of  modern  prostitution  and  to 
point  out  the  peculiar  difficulties  that  attend  an  effort  to 
deal  with  it  on  simple  lines.  I have  described  the 
measures  now  beginning  to  be  taken  to  diminish  demand, 
to  abridge  supply,  and  to  interfere  with  efforts  to  ex- 
ploit the  existing  supply.  Endeavor  in  these  various 
directions  looks  to  gradual  amelioration  of  the  situation 
now  generally  existing  in  large  cities.  Meanwhile,  pros- 
titution is  a phenomenon  that  must  be  dealt  with  by 
every  municipal  government.  What  are  the  methods 
employed  in  Europe  and  with  what  results  ? 

Generally  speaking,  two  opposite  policies  are  em- 
ployed: regulation  and  abolition.  The  former  endeav- 


121 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ors  to  handle  prostitution  by  inducing  it  to  submit  to 
certain  rules;  it  urges  that  as  a matter  of  fact  prosti- 
tution exists,  is  a social  pest,  and  cannot  be  summarily 
wiped  out;  something  will,  however,  be  gained  for  de- 
cency, health,  and  order,  if  the  phenomenon  can  be 
forced  to  conform  to  conditions  laid  down  by  the  police 
authorities.  These  conditions  form  the  regulations 
from  which  the  policy  in  question  derives  its  name. 

The  opposing  party  — the  abolitionists  — agree  as  to 
the  mischief  due  to  prostitution,  as  to  the  impossibility 
of  extirpating  it,  as  to  the  difficulty  of  repressing  it,  as 
to  the  unwisdom  of  allowing  it  to  flourish  rampant. 
They  insist,  however,  that  regulation  fails  to  achieve 
its  purpose;  worse  still,  as  they  argue,  the  moment  pros- 
titution is  accepted  provided  it  submits  to  certain  rules, 
the  state  is  placed  in  the  position  of  authorizing,  legal- 
izing, or  privileging  the  practice  of  vice.  While  the  regu- 
lationists  claim  that  the  privileges  conferred  do  not  em- 
body the  license  to  do  an  immoral  and  illegal  thing,  but 
merely  involve  common  sense  acceptance  of  the  inevitable, 
the  abolitionists  retort  that,  verbal  quibbles  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding,  regulation  is  a compact  with  vice. 
In  the  present  and  succeeding  chapters  these  two  oppos- 
ing policies  will  be  described  and  the  effort  will  be 
made  to  decide  the  issues  raised  by  them. 

To  describe  regulation  is  by  no  means  an  easy  or  simple 
task;  for  the  systems  in  vogue  in  different  places  vary 
fundamentally  and  essentially.  They  agree  in  stipulat- 
ing that  prostitutes  registered  with  the  police  must 
heed  certain  restrictions  placed  upon  their  conduct  in  the 
interest  of  public  order  and  decency,  and  that  they  must 

123 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

present  themselves  at  regular  intervals  for  medical  ex- 
amination in  the  interest  of  public  health.  They  agree, 
that  is,  in  their  avowed  objects.  There  is,  however,  no 
general  agreement  whatsoever  as  to  what  is  feasible  or 
necessary  in  order  to  attain  the  objects  in  question.  The 
more  thoroughly  one  examines  European  practice  and 
theory  in  the  matter,  the  more  one  is  perplexed  as  to 
precisely  what  that  practice  and  theory  essentially  are. 
The  general  term  “ Regulation  ” covers  up  difficulties 
and  inconsistencies  respecting  which  even  the  partisans 
of  control  are  still  widely  at  variance.  This  will  become 
clear,  if,  after  describing  the  rules  in  force  at  one  place, 
I point  out  the  divergencies  from  these  that  obtain  else- 
where. 

For  the  sake  of  simplicity,  I shall  divide  the  discussion 
into  two  parts:  the  first  dealing  with  registration  and 
with  regulation  in  so  far  only  as  they  touch  the  preser- 
vation of  order  and  decency;  the  second,  dealing  with 
regulation  in  so  far  as  it  touches  the  question  of  venereal 
disease.  Berlin  shall  furnish  the  basis  of  our  discus- 
sion.1 

The  Berlin  prostitute  almost  invariably  first  comes  into 
contact  with  the  police  in  consequence  of  street  solicit- 
ing.2 The  plain-clothes  morals  police,  shortly  to  be  de- 

1 The  Berlin  regulations  are  translated  into  English  and  printed 
in  full  on  pp.  415-419. 

2 The  attention  of  the  police  is  occasionally  called  by  letters, 
usually  anonymous,  to  women  accused  of  professional  prostitution. 
In  these  instances  the  police  proceed  with  great  caution,  investigat- 
ing fully  all  the  persons  involved  before  taking  any  action  what- 
soever. “ Experience  teaches  that  totally  erroneous  misconceptions 
of  what  constitutes  the  offence  in  question  usually  characterize 
charges  made  by  private  individuals,  or  that  the  charges  spring  from 
revenge,  envy,  or  gossip.”  Inspector  Penzig,  head  of  Sitten - 
abteilung f Berlin. 


I23 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

scribed,  are  charged  with  the  duty  of  watching  not  only 
registered  women  — to  see  that  they  respect  the  regula- 
tions — but  also  unregistered  women  whose  actions 
arouse  the  suspicion  that  they  are  seeking  to  practise 
prostitution  for  money, — the  offence  which  is  alone  ob- 
noxious to  German  law.3  We  are  concerned  to  trace  the 
course  of  the  latter. 

A woman  whose  behavior  is  suspicious  is,  in  the  first 
instance,  warned  by  the  officer  — not  arrested;  if  warn- 
ing is  unavailing,  arrest  follows.  Should  she  prove  to 
the  examining  officer  before  whom  she  is  taken  that  she 
has  a proper  dwelling  place,  she  is  released  on  under- 
taking to  appear  next  day  before  the  morals  police;  if 
she  is  without  dwelling  or  resources,  she  is  taken  there 
at  once.  In  any  case,  she  has  at  police  headquarters  no 
contact  whatsoever  with  inscribed  women,  who  may  hap- 
pen to  be  under  arrest  at  the  same  time.  Whatever  may 
happen  elsewhere,  contamination  does  not  occur  there. 
Henceforth  the  procedure  varies,  according  as  the  girl  is 
under  18  years  of  age,  between  18  and  21,  or  over  21.  If 
under  18,  she  can  nowadays  in  no  event  be  inscribed;  she 
must  be  turned  over  to  her  natural  or  legal  guardian  or  to 
the  juvenile  court  in  order  to  bring  her  under  proper  con- 
ditions either  in  her  own  home  or  in  an  institution  of  the 
required  type.  If  the  girl  is  between  18  and  21,  the 
same  preliminary  steps  are  taken;  the  morals  police 
communicate  with  parent  or  guardian,  as  previously  men- 
tioned; and  an  endeavor  is  made  to  secure  wholesome 
conditions  for  her  at  home,  in  some  other  family  or  in 

3 “ Gewerbsunzucht”  (professional  prostitution)  involves  “ge- 
schlechtliche  Hingabe  gegen  Entgelt”  (sexual  intercourse  for  pay). 


124 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

an  institution.  4 If  these  efforts  are  unsuccessful, — and 
the  facilities  are  so  far  in  arrears  of  the  requirements 
that  successful  placing  is  possible  for  only  a small  frac- 
tion of  the  cases, — the  girl,  despite  the  fact  that  she  is  a 
minor,  may  be  inscribed,  should  she  be  rearrested  for  the 
same  offence  and  adjudged  guilty  in  court.5  Women 
over  21  are  at  once  turned  over  to  the  courts  upon  ar- 
rest and  after  conviction  may  be  summarily  enrolled.  In 
addition  to  such  enrolment  by  compulsion,  women  over 
21  are  also  enrolled  upon  their  own  application. 

Up  to  the  moment  of  inscription,  prostitution  for 
money  or  its  equivalent  is  an  offence  punishable  by  im- 
prisonment and  hard  labor;  after  inscription,  the  state 
withdraws  its  objection.  The  woman  is  permitted  or 
authorized  to  earn  her  living  by  prostitution,  provided 
she  obey  the  following  directions.6 

She  must  not  loiter  offensively  in  streets  and  public 
places,  nor  solicit,  nor  be  found  in  the  company  of  pros- 
titutes or  pimps ; 7 except  in  case  of  urgent  need,  she 
must  not  walk  in  the  following  streets  and  places,  viz., 
The  Zoological  Garden,  Unter  den  Linden,  Friedrich- 
strasse,  Potsdamer  Platz,  etc. ; 8 she  is  forbidden  to  linger 
in  the  vicinity  of  schools,  churches  or  royal  buildings,  or 
to  attend  the  theater,  circus,  expositions,  museums,  or 
concert  gardens  attached  thereto;9  she  is  to  have  no  in- 

4 The  procedure  is  based  on  the  Prussian  law  respecting  the  care 
of  minors,  of  July  2,  1900,  already  mentioned,  p.  100. 

5 In  conformity  with  ministerial  decree , December  11,  1907. 

6 It  will  be  understood  that  the  stipulations  bearing  on  health  are 
reserved  for  a subsequent  chapter. 

7 Polizeiliche  Vorschriften  (Berlin)  Section  4. 

8 Sixty-three  streets  and  places  are  enumerated,  Section  6. 

0 Ibid.  Section  7. 


125 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tercourse  of  any  kind  with  minors;10  she  must  admit 
police  officers  at  any  time  into  her  dwelling,  day  or  night, 
and  give  information  about  any  person  discovered  with 
her;11  she  must  keep  police  headquarters  constantly  in- 
formed of  her  address; 12  she  may  not  reside  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  schools,  churches,  or  public  buildings  and  must 
change  her  dwelling  on  peremptory  notice  from  the 
police.13  Any  infraction  of  these  regulations  is  punish- 
able by  imprisonment  for  not  longer  than  six  weeks ; but 
the  condemned  woman  may  also  be  remanded  to  the 
police,  on  expiration  of  this  sentence,  for  a workhouse 
term  imposed  by  the  police  of  not  exceeding  two  years, 
in  their  discretion. 

I have  said  that  inscription  at  Berlin  may  be  either 
compulsory  or  voluntary ; that  is,  an  unregistered  woman 
arrested  for  practising  prostitution  without  authorization 
in  the  shape  of  police  registration  and  thereafter  either 
warned  in  vain  or  punished,  may  be  inscribed  by  the 
police,  even  though  she  protest  against  it;  thenceforth 
she  is  compelled  to  comply  with  the  regulations  above 
named  as  well  as  those  to  be  hereafter  described  in  deal- 
ing with  the  sanitary  aspect  of  police  control.  This  is 
compulsory  inscription.  Or,  without  waiting  to  be 
forcibly  inscribed,  she  may  appear  and  herself  request 
to  be  inscribed,  whereby  she  voluntarily  undertakes  to 
respect  the  obligations  that  inscription  imposes  upon  her. 

Ibid.  Section  9. 

II  Ibid.  Section  11. 

12  Registration  of  addresses  is  so  generally  required  that  this  pro- 
vision is  not  offensive  to  the  European  sense;  but  the  prostitute  is 
compelled  to  notify  a change  of  address  more  promptly  than  other 
persons. 

13  Ibid.  Section  15. 


126 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

It  is  apparently  easy  to  understand  why  a police  force, 
believing  in  the  necessity  of  regulation  as  a means  of  pre- 
serving decorum,  and  in  its  efficacy  as  a means  of  pro- 
moting sanitation,  should  favor  compulsory  inscription; 
but  why  should  a prostitute  herself,  without  pressure 
from  the  police,  ever  ask  to  be  subjected  to  its  regime? 
A complete  explanation  will  gradually  emerge  as  we 
proceed  with  the  description  and  discussion  of  regula- 
tion ; but  a partial  account  must  be  given  at  once.  I re- 
marked in  the  foregoing  chapter  that  prostitution  for 
gain  is  in  itself  a crime  according  to  the  letter  of  the 
German  law;  the  prostitute  is  liable  to  arrest,  punish- 
ment, eviction,  whenever  it  can  be  proved  that  she  earns 
money  through  immorality,  whether  she  have  other  oc- 
cupation or  not.14  Voluntary  inscription  is  an  open  con- 
fession of  irregular  life  as  a business.  Instead,  how- 
ever, of  leading  to  her  immediate  punishment  for  ad- 
, mitted  violation  of  the  law,  confession  and  inscription 
operate  in  precisely  the  contrary  way;  they  relieve  the 
woman  of  molestation  provided  she  agrees  to  carry  on 
her  illegal  business  in  compliance  with  police  formulae. 
Once  inscribed,  she  is  free  to  seek  and  to  entertain  pa- 
trons as  long  as  she  does  so  without  scandal.  Inscrip- 
tion— voluntary  or  compulsory — thus  involves  her 
submission  to  certain  conditions,  more  or  less  restrictive 
and  capable  of  somewhat  disturbing  her  business  opera- 

14  It  is  sometimes  stated  that  according  to  the  German  law,  pro- 
fessional prostitution  is  not  punishable  if  the  woman  is  registered 
by  the  police.  It  is  therefore  argued  by  many  jurists  that 
technically  it  is  not  prostitution  that  is  punishable,  but  non-registra- 
tion. The  offence  is  not,  so  it  is  said,  that  the  woman  is  a prosti- 
tute, but  that  she  is  an  unregistered  prostitute.  I have  purposely 
avoided  verbal  technicalities  of  this  kind  in  order  to  bring  the 
reader  face  to  face  with  the  real  issue. 

1 27 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tions;  but  it  has  the  great  advantage  of  relieving  the 
prostitute  of  vague  dread  of  police  interference  in  gen- 
eral. How  far  the  conditions  to  which  she  subscribes 
when  registered  are  enforced  we  shall  learn  later. 

The  characteristic  features  of  the  Berlin  regulations 
are  then  as  follows:  either  voluntary  or  compulsory  in- 
scription; arbitrary  and  additional  police  sentence  fol- 
lowing judicial  sentence,  in  case  the  court  so  orders;  in- 
terdiction to  prostitutes  of  prominent  thoroughfares, 
amusement,  and  other  resorts ; non-inscription  of  minors 
under  18;  possible  inscription  of  minors  between  18  and 
2 1;  and  complete  control  of  dwelling-places.  As  the 
local  police  are  opposed  to  bordells  and  brothels,  it  fol- 
lows that  the  legalized  prostitution  of  Berlin  is  scattered 
through  the  city. 

For  the  enforcement  of  the  Berlin  regulations  a special- 
ized police  division,  known  as  the  Sittenpolizei  or  morals 
police,  exists.  Its  head  is  an  Inspector;  he  is  assisted 
by  five  assistants,  called  Commissioners;  and  he  com- 
mands a force  of  200  patrolmen,  who,  in  plain  clothes, 
walk  the  streets  in  pairs.  These  men  have  sole  and 
complete  charge  of  the  vice  problem;  the  uniformed 
police  have  no  duty  or  responsibility  in  connection  with 
prostitutes  or  prostitution,  intervening  only  in  case  of 
an  emergency  — a street  brawl,  for  example,  when  there 
are  no  morals  police  in  sight.  The  duty  of  the  morals 
force  is  twofold.  First,  they  observe  the  inscribed 
women,  in  order  to  prevent  infractions  of  the  regula- 
tions. If  a medical  visit  — to  be  described  in  a subse- 
quent chapter  14a — is  missed,  a morals  patrolman  searches 

14a  See  pp.  235-6. 


1 28 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

for  and  produces  the  offender;  if  a registered  woman 
otherwise  notoriously  transgresses  her  bargain,  it  is  left 
to  the  morals  policeman  to  take  her  in  hand.  Secondly, 
the  morals  force  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  watching  the 
uninscribed  — usually  called  clandestine  — prostitutes. 
I have  already  told  how  these  women  are  observed, 
warned,  and  if  they  continue  to  be  objectionable,  ar- 
rested ; — in  all  these  steps,  the  morals  patrolman  is  the 
agent  who  deals  with  the  prostitute.  His  judgment 
and  discretion  determine  who  shall  be  warned,  who  shall 
be  arrested,  and  thus,  in  the  long  run,  who  shall  be 
forcibly  inscribed.  I shall  shortly  explain  more  fully 
the  working  of  the  system,  but  it  is  important  at  the  out- 
set to  show  the  reader  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  re- 
sponsibility laid  on  the  morals  police. 

Regardless,  for  the  moment,  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  above  mentioned  regulations  are  executed,  or  the 
results  thereby  attained,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  no 
two  German  cities  is  the  same  system  in  vogue.  Nor 
do  the  differences  touch  mere  matters  of  detail;  they  go 
to  the  very  root  of  the  whole  matter.  Berlin  has,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  addition  to  voluntary,  also  compulsory  in- 
scription, with  scattered  prostitution;  that  is  to  say,  a 
prostitute  detected  in  the  practice  of  her  vocation  may  be 
inscribed  against  her  will ; thereafter  she  is  forced  to  re- 
side in  a place  approved  by  the  police, — which  place  will 
in  no  event  be  a brothel  or  a bordell.  Bremen,  proceed- 
ing on  the  basis  of  the  same  statute,  has  only  voluntary 
inscription,  and  women  who  thus  offer  themselves  for 
inscription  are  compelled  to  occupy  quarters  in  a single 
street  in  houses  which,  whatever  the  theory,  are  prac- 

129 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tically  bordells ; 15  that  is,  no  woman  is  inscribed  except 
on  her  own  application  and  a woman  so  inscribed  may 
remove  her  name  from  the  list  at  her  pleasure;  the  sole 
condition  being  that  she  live  in  Helenenstrasse  during  in- 
scription, and  remove  from  it  to  some  other  part  of  the 
city  whenever  she  cancels  her  enrolment;  of  course,  can- 
cellation of  her  inscription  and  removal  to  another  part 
of  town  do  not  necessarily  involve  any  change  in  her  oc- 
cupation. Therefore  a small  number  of  Bremen  pros- 
titutes are  inscribed  and  corralled ; the  rest  — all  non- 
registered  — live  as  and  where  they  will.  Bremen  and 
Berlin  are  therefore  decidedly  dissimilar.  Other  cities 
differ  from  them  both  and  from  each  other.  Munich, 
for  example,  has,  like  Bremen,  only  voluntary  inscrip- 
tion, but,  unlike  Bremen  and  like  Berlin,  only  scat- 
tered prostitution.  Stuttgart  adds  another  variation: 
for,  unlike  Bremen,  Munich,  and  Berlin,  the  inscribed 
women  live  in  scattered  bordells,  and  in  them  only. 
Hamburg  is  again  different : for,  like  Berlin,  it  has  both 
compulsory  and  voluntary  inscription,  while,  contrary  to 
all  the  above  examples,  the  inscribed  women  live  partly 
in  bordells  on  a number  of  different  streets  and  partly  in 
approved  but  scattered  lodgings  on  the  Berlin  plan.  Nor 
are  the  possible  combinations  even  yet  exhausted : for 
Dresden,  Cologne,  Frankfort,  and  other  cities  have  each 
its  own  idiosyncrasies. 

Substantially  the  same  variations  are  found  in  the 
other  countries  and  cities  that  I visited.  For  example,  in 
Paris,  inscription  is,  as  in  Berlin,  both  voluntary  and  com- 
pulsory; the  inscribed  prostitute  dwells  in  a bordell  or 

15  See  below,  pp.  177-8. 

130 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

not,  as  she  pleases;  she  may,  however,  instead  of  living 
in  a bordell,  leave  her  name  and  address  with  the  keeper 
of  an  authorized  rendezvous  house,  to  which  she  regu- 
larly repairs  or  may  be  summoned  between  certain  hours ; 
these  houses,  like  the  bordells,  are  found  in  many  sec- 
tions of  the  city;  meanwhile  no  part  of  the  town  is  ex- 
empt from  prostitutes  occupying  scattered  lodgings. 
Though  they  are  thickest  in  certain  well-known  sections 
of  Montmartre  and  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine,  they 
are  also  found  in  the  Avenue  Victor  Hugo  and  the  fash- 
ionable streets  radiating  from  the  Arc  de  Triomphe,  In 
Vienna,  once  more,  only  voluntary  inscription  prevails: 
no  woman  is  enrolled  against  her  will.  But  if  a woman 
carries  on  professional  prostitution,  the  regulations  make 
it  her  duty  to  enroll  herself  voluntarily;  if  she  fails  in 
this  duty,  she  may  suffer  seriously!  The  rules  ex- 
pressly provide  that  the  police  shall  handle  the  non-reg- 
istered  women  more  severely  than  the  registered.16  The 
woman’s  freedom  to  enroll  or  not  as  she  pleases  is  thus 
ostensible  rather  than  actual.  It  is  assuredly  a bit  cas- 
uistical to  maintain  that  the  prostitute  may  inscribe  her- 
self or  not  — only  she  will  be  relentlessly  pursued  if  she 
fails  to  exercise  her  option  in  the  desired  direction. 
Once  registered,  however,  she  may  live  in  a bordell,  or,  as 
all  but  a mere  handful  do,  privately.  At  Budapest,  the 
girl  is  first  turned  over  to  a social  worker  who  pleads 
with  her  to  desist  from  her  evil  ways.  If  her  efforts 
prove  unavailing,  registration  follows.  Meanwhile,  un- 
registered prostitution  is  harried  with  great  severity. 
The  Stockholm  regulations  also  make  it  the  woman’s  duty 

16  Regulations,  Section  51 ; see  p.  441. 

131 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

to  register ; 17  but,  as  the  chief  of  the  division  is  author- 
ized to  observe  non-registered  women  “ suspected  of  im- 
morality,” 18  it  is  clear  that  compulsory  enrolment  is  not 
impossible. 

Divergencies  touch  other  points  also:  as  for  example, 
the  circumstances  that  lead  to  arrest;  the  registration  of 
minors;  of  married  women;  of  women  with  other  means 
of  livelihood;  the  employment  of  non- judicial  adminis- 
trative punishment;  the  cancellation  of  inscription;  etc. 
Married  women  can  be  forcibly  enrolled  in  Paris  and 
Berlin  and,  with  the  husband’s  consent,  in  Budapest. 
They  are  not  even  at  their  own  request  permitted  to  en- 
roll in  Munich  or  Vienna.  In  one  place  it  is  argued  that 
marriage  is  often  a mere  form,  for  the  husband  is  only 
the  woman’s  pimp;  if  regulation  is  efficacious,  or  meant 
to  be  efficacious,  it  cannot  allow  itself  to  be  defeated  by 
such  a technicality.  Elsewhere  it  is  argued  that  the  in- 
stitution of  marriage  is  degraded,  if  a married  woman 
is  expressly  authorized  by  the  law  to  practise  prostitu- 
tion for  her  livelihood,  and  by  inscription  allowed  to  gain 
immunity  for  an  otherwise  intolerable  and  illegal  line  of 
behavior.  Again,  in  the  matter  of  other  employment: 
the  Berlin  and  Paris  rules  proceed  on  the  assumption  that 
many  occupations  are  either  cloaks  for  the  practice  of 
professional  prostitution,  or  do  not  affect  the  character 
of  the  woman  concerned.  The  whole  intent  of  inscrip- 
tion can  therefore  be  defeated  if  the  mere  fact  that  a 
woman  follows  some  sort  of  occupation  necessarily  ex- 
empts her  from  inscription.  Hence  women  so  engaged 

17 Regulations  of  Stockholm,  Section  3. 

18  Ibid,  Section  10,  h. 


I32 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

may  be  enrolled  if  they  are  professional  prostitutes.  In- 
deed, the  rules  of  some  cities  give  these  women  a certain 
leeway  in  the  matter  of  reporting  to  the  police  so  that 
their  other  occupation  may  not  be  interfered  with.  The 
point  is  that  Paris,  Berlin,  and  other  North  German 
towns  see  no  inconsistency  between  registration  as  a pro- 
fessional prostitute  and  simultaneous  employment  as  bar- 
maid or  otherwise.  Bremen,  Stuttgart,  Munich,  and 
Budapest  take  a very  different  view.  They  regard  any 
kind  of  employment  as  the  beginning  or  possibility  of 
salvation ; as  soon  as  a girl  begins  to  earn  something  hon- 
estly, there  is  hope  that  she  may  clamber  out  of  the  mire; 
to  enroll  her  would  be  to  brand  her  and  thus  to  bar  the 
road  to  betterment.  Finally,  as  to  punishment : at  Paris 
administrative  punishment  is  regarded  as  the  very  core 
of  regulation.  A registered  woman  has  no  legal  rights. 
She  is  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  the  police  inspector,  who, 
on  hearing  the  morals  patrolman’s  complaint  against  her, 
pronounces  sentence  upon  her.  She  may,  of  course,  pro- 
test her  innocence,  but  she  is  allowed  neither  attorney  to 
represent  nor  witnesses  to  support  her.  Nor  can  the  ac- 
tion of  the  police  be  reviewed  by  any  regularly  constituted 
court  of  justice.  The  Paris  police  regard  regulation  as 
unworkable  without  this  summary  administrative  power. 
The  Prussian  police  partly  disagree.  They  prefer  that 
the  courts  should  act  in  the  first  instance.  Only  after 
the  courts  declare  the  woman  guilty  of  professional  pros- 
titution does  she  fall  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  police. 
Once  there,  however,  she  is  absolutely  without  legal 
rights.  At  Hamburg  and  Dresden  it  is  likewise  argued 
that  prompt  action,  unhampered  by  technicalities,  is  the 

133 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

only  way  to  deal  with  such  culprits,  and  administrative 
punishment  is  accordingly  still  in  vogue.  The  women 
may  without  judicial  trial  be  sent  to  jail  on  sentences 
running  from  7 to  14  days,  with  6 months  more  in  the 
workhouse  if  without  home  or  occupation. 

Finally,  in  the  matter  of  withdrawal  from  the  police 
lists : Bremen,  Stuttgart,  Vienna,  and  Budapest  cancel  in- 
scription on  request;  they  regard  every  request  as  the 
possibility  of  a return  to  decency,  and  fearful  of  ever 
interfering  with  such  a desire,  however  faint,  never  in- 
terpose an  objection.  Hamburg  and  Berlin,  on  the  con- 
trary, cancel  no  inscription  until  the  police  are  satisfied 
that  the  woman  is  in  earnest;  an  applicant  is  therefore 
secretly  watched  and  on  the  report  of  an  ordinary  pa- 
trolman embodying  his  interpretation  of  her  comings 
and  goings,  the  ability  of  a prostitute  to  get  a fresh  start 
wholly  depends.  Stockholm  removes  a woman  from 
the  list  “ until  further  notice  ” in  case  she  announces  her 
decision  to  return  to  a decent  life,  proves  to  the  in- 
spector that  she  has  an  honorable  occupation  or  other 
means  of  support,  and  after  three  months’  surveillance, 
is  favorably  regarded. 

In  one  respect,  Vienna  differs  at  least  in  the  letter  of 
the  regulations  from  all  other  cities.  The  reader  will 
have  remarked  the  effort  of  the  Berlin  stipulations  to  re- 
move the  prostitute  from  human  associations.  She  is 
barred  from  certain  streets;  she  is  forbidden  certain 
places  of  amusement.  These  restrictions  are  not  condi- 
tioned upon  her  conduct,  but  upon  the  fact  that  she  is  a 
prostitute,  and  they  form  an  important  part  of  the  regula- 
tions not  only  of  Berlin,  but  of  Paris,  Munich,  Brussels, 

134 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

and  other  cities.  We  shall  have  something  to  say  later  of 
the  enforcement  of  these,  as  well  as  other,  rules.  But, 
as  showing  once  more  the  total  failure  of  any  agree- 
ment as  to  the  details,  the  new  Vienna  regulation  entirely 
abandons  even  the  attempt  to  make  the  prostitute  an  out- 
cast in  this  sense ; she  is  only  only  forbidden  to  appear  in  a 
group  of  immoral  women  or  with  a pimp.  As  to  the 
rest,  it  is  expressly  declared : “ In  respect  to  her  be- 

havior she  is  liable  only  to  the  same  rules  as  to  order 
and  decency  that  apply  to  all  other  persons.”  19 

Divergencies  might  be  still  further  multiplied.  I 
might  point  out  that  there  is  no  agreement  as  to  what 
constitutes  the  sort  of  prostitution  which  must  be  amen- 
able to  regulation,  if  regulation  is  successfully  to  achieve 
its  purpose  in  preserving  order  and  health.  Germany 
holds  that  regulation  need  apply  to  prostitution  only  in 
so  far  as  money  passes;  and  the  actual  passing  of  a ma- 
terial consideration  must  be  either  admitted  or  proved. 
Austria  urges  that  no  headway  can  be  made  against  such 
a technicality;  the  Vienna  police,  therefore,  after  watch- 
ing and  vainly  warning,  arrest  on  suspicion.  Berlin 
acts  most  rigorously  when  the  girl  is  without  a definite 
home ; 20  Stuttgart  and  Bremen  enroll  only  when  the 
girl  has  a definite  home,  and  in  a bordell 21  at  that.  It  is 
clear  that  the  variations  mentioned  seriously  involve  the 
nature,  scope,  and  applicability  of  the  system.  I shall, 
as  I proceed,  discuss  them  on  their  merits.  But  I want 

19  Das  neue  Wiener  Prostitutionsrealement,  June  i,  ign.  Sec- 
tion 26.  An  English  translation  of  the  Vienna  regulations  is  given 
pp.  429-444. 

20  “ Feste  Wohnung the  significance  of  this  is  explained  below, 

p.  275. 

21  Or  its  equivalent : see  below,  p.  178. 

135 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

for  the  present  simply  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that, 
what  at  long  range  is  called  a system,  or  the  system,  of 
regulation,  proves  on  fuller  knowledge  to  be  a very  large 
number  of  systems, — a confusion  of  systems,  inconsist- 
ent with  one  another  in  viewpoint  and  diverse  in  organi- 
zation, range,  operation,  and  even  purpose.  Confusion 
in  structure  may  be  taken  to  indicate  that  a satisfactory 
technique  of  regulation  remains  to  be  worked  out.  It 
becomes,  therefore,  important  to  accompany  any  dis- 
cussion of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  regulation  with  a 
bill  of  particulars  specifying  the  precise  form  of  regula- 
tion in  question;  for  the  variations  above  noted  are  not 
immaterial  or  accidental.  Their  number  and  importance 
at  once  introduce  grave  suspicion  into  the  mind  of  the 
disinterested  observer. 

Though  systems  of  regulation  differ  thus  in  prac- 
tically every  respect,  they  are  singularly  alike  in  one 
highly  important  regard : they  have  been  generally  de- 
veloped by  more  or  less  arbitrary  action  on  the  part  of 
the  police  and  without  the  deliberate  and  express  sanc- 
tion of  a competent  legislative  authority.  From  this 
statement,  the  British  Contagious  Disease  Act  — long 
since  repealed  — must  be  excepted;  to  the  extent  that 
that  legislation  introduced  regulation  into  Great  Britain, 
adequate  legislative  authority  could  not  be  said  to  be  lack- 
ing in  any  respect;  the  Belgian  system,  too,  reposing  on 
communal  law,22  is  apparently  well  authorized;  such  is 
also  the  case  in  Hungary,  where  two  statutes  — one  passed 
in  1876,  the  other  in  1899, — authorize  the  police  regula- 
tion of  prostitution.  Elsewhere  this  is  not,  and  never 


22  Of  date,  March  30,  1836. 


136 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

has  been,  the  case.  But  continental  tradition  accords  to 
the  police  an  extensive  jurisdiction  and  initiative  in  re- 
gard to  matters  more  or  less  loosely  left  within  their  prov- 
ince. In  dealing  with  certain  matters,  the  police  are 
therefore  in  the  habit  of  taking  summary  and  arbitrary 
action  on  the  basis  of  custom  or  on  the  warrant  of  an- 
cient degrees  of  dubious  validity.  The  courts  usually 
decline  to  interfere,  even  though,  as  I shall  show,  they 
do  not  hesitate  to  impugn  the  adequacy  of  the  legal  basis. 
The  police  have  everywhere  become  acutely  uncomfor- 
table on  the  subject.  They  cling  to  the  powers;  but 
they  crave  explicit  legislative  warrant  such  as  will  place 
their  authority  beyond  suspicion.  This  legislative  reas- 
surance they  have  nowhere  obtained;  neither  in  France, 
nor  Germany,  nor  Austria  has  the  national  legislature  de- 
liberately and  unambiguously  created  or  even  sustained 
by  statutory  enactment  the  police  regulation  of  prosti- 
tution, as  now  carried  on  in  those  three  countries : nay, 
more,  in  certain  important  respects,  regulation  has  been 
practised  by  the  police  only  by  subterfuge  in  more  or  less 
plain  disregard  of  the  letter  of  the  statutes. 

The  questions  here  involved  are  obviously  of  highly 
technical  character.  The  statement  above  made  would 
not  be  greatly  strengthened  by  the  citation  of  even  weighty 
authorities,  who  are  opposed  to  regulation  on  principle; 
it  would  be  easy  to  point  out  that  their  interpretation  of 
the  law  may  unconsciously  and  even  unintentionally  have 
been  influenced  by  their  position  in  reference  to  the  policy 
itself.  I propose  therefore  to  quote  only  jurists  who  are 
favorable  to  regulation,  men  whose  interest  lies  in  mak- 
ing out  the  strongest  possible  case  for  its  legal  warrant. 

137 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

As  to  Paris,  I shall  follow  M.  Lepine,  to  whom  I have  pre- 
viously referred  as  an  extraordinarily  able  official.23  The 
powers  there  exercised  by  the  police  in  respect  to  pros- 
titution are  derived  from  a royal  ordinance  of  1684  ap- 
pointing the  Salpetriere  for  the  reception  of  prostitutes 
and  vaguely  prescribing  that  final  sentences  in  respect  to 
them  may  be  imposed  by  the  police;  by  two  subsequent 
ordinances  of  1778  and  1780  forbidding  the  renting  of 
rooms  to  prostitutes;  and  by  a law  of  the  year  VIII 
(1799)  authorizing  the  police  to  watch  prostitution,  to 
provide  for  the  security  of  the  streets  and  to  check  epi- 
demics and  infectious  disease.  From  these  general  di- 
rections to  the  minute  specifications  and  exemptions  of  the 
Paris  regulatory  system  is  indeed  a far  call.  It  is  im- 
possible seriously  to  maintain  that  they  warrant  or  were 
ever  intended  to  warrant  the  procedure  ostensibly  de- 
rived from  them.  The  police  themselves  are  so  conscious 
of  the  uncertain  footing  on  which  their  system  rests, 
that  they  have  again  and  again  sought  its  validation 
through  express  legislation.  In  the  year  IV  (1795)  of 
the  Republic,  the  directory  vainly  asked  that  the  legis- 
lative body  define  prostitution  and  “ give  judicial  pro- 
ceedings a special  form  ” ; subsequent  failures  to  obtain 
explicit  legislative  sanction  are  recorded  in  1798  and 
in  1810, — the  latter  being  the  date  of  the  recasting  of  the 
penal  code;  legislators  were  at  that  time  not  prepared  to 

23  Rapport  de  M.  Lepine  sur  la  reglementation,  etc.,  in  Annexes; 
Report,  French  Commission.  The  extract  is  abridged,  so  as  to 
raise  no  question  at  this  point  except  as  to  the  legal  basis  of  regula- 
tion. For  a discussion  of  the  topic  by  a German  jurist  opposed  to 
regulation,  see  Schmolder  — Die  Bestrafung  und  polizeiliche  Be - 
handlung  der  gewerbsmdssigen  Unzucht  (Diisseldorf,  1892)  p.  11, 
etc. 


138 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

forbid  regulation,  but  they  refused  to  write  it  explicitly 
on  the  statute  book.  In  1811,  1816,  1822,  1848,  1877, 
and  1895  similar  efforts  met  with  the  same  failure.  Re- 
viewing these  unavailing  endeavors  to  establish  regula- 
tion on  a secure  legal  basis,  M.  Lepine  declared  before 
the  Extra-Parliamentary  Commission : “ In  these  con- 

ditions the  Police  Prefect  has  had  no  other  resource  but 
to  cling  to  old  methods  which,  even  if  not  converted  into 
laws,  have  been  tolerated  and  approved  by  all  govern- 
ments.” 24 

The  situation  is  no  better  in  the  rest  of  France.  Regu- 
lation in  the  provincial  cities  is  based  on  certain  para- 
graphs of  a law  of  April  5,  1884, 25  in  reference  to  which 
M.  Hennequin,  of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  a pro- 
nounced regulationist,  admits : “ Without  doubt,  the 

law  does  not  speak  expressly  of  morals,  and  prostitution 
is  not  referred  to  by  name  in  article  97 : ”26  that  is,  the 
comparatively  recent  statute,  on  which  provincial  regula- 
tion in  France  rests,  does  not  venture  to  mention  the 
policy  in  defense  of  which  it  is  now  invoked.  The  Aus- 
trian regulations  are  likewise  a creation  of  the  police, 
ostensibly  pursuant  to  a general  statutory  provision  that 
vaguely  leaves  the  “ punishment  of  professional  prosti- 
tutes to  the  police  authority.”  27  But  regulation  con- 

24  Report,  French  Commission,  Annexes  p.  5. 

25  Section  91,  “The  mayor  has  charge  of  the  municipal  police;” 
Section  94,  “ he  has  the  right  to  make  arrests,  to  ordain  local  meas- 
ures in  respect  to  objects  confided  to  his  vigilance  and  authority;” 
Section  97,  “it  is  his  duty,  above  all,  to  assure  order,  security,  and 
the  public  health.” 

26  Annexes,  loc.  cit.,  p.  36.  For  a severe  criticism  of  M.  Henne- 
quin’s  stretching  of  the  law,  see  Fiaux,  Police  de  Moeurs,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  41,  etc. 

27  Oesterreichisches  Strafgesetzbuch  Section  509,  and  Gesetz,  May 
24,  1885. 

139 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

sists  not  in  punishing , but  in  condoning  prostitution,  pro- 
vided certain  police  stipulations  be  complied  with.  Like 
its  French  prototype,  the  Austrian  system  thus  lacks  stat- 
utory basis  as  well  as  express  legislative  sanction;  and 
precisely  as  the  French  defect  is  admitted  by  M.  Lepine, 
regulationist,  so  the  corresponding  Austrian  flaw  is  con- 
fessed by  Dr.  Baumgarten,  the  capable,  humane  and 
cultivated  official  who  presided  over  the  morals  police 
of  Vienna : “ The  legal  basis  upon  which  the  present 

system  of  police  regulation  reposes  is  throughout  vulner- 
able.” 28  The  law  must  be  so  amended,  he  urges,  that 
the  police  are  charged,  not  with  punishing  prostitution, 
but  with  watching  and  controlling  it,  on  lines  to  be  de- 
vised by  themselves.  Only  if  so  amended  would  the 
present  system  rest  on  an  unequivocal  legal  basis.  Need- 
less to  say,  no  such  amendment  has  yet  been  carried,29 
and  the  regulation  system  in  vogue  in  Austria  stands, 
because,  as  in  France,  lacking  the  protection  of  the  habeas 
corpus  writ,  the  outcast  can  obtain  no  footing  in  court. 

The  foundation  of  regulation  in  Germany  is  equally 
dubious.  Paragraph  i8o  of  the  Criminal  Code  makes  it 
a punishable  offence  to  rent  a room  to  a prostitute.  Now 
the  moment  the  police  inscribe  a prostitute,  they  register 
her  dwelling-place ; and  they  bear  with  particular  severity 
on  prostitutes  who  are  “ without  a definite  domicile.”  30 
Regulation  31  begins,  therefore,  by  flying  in  the  face  of 

28  Zeitschrift  IX,  p.  217. 

29  Ibid.,  pp.  156-160.  Dr.  Baumgarten  urges  the  substituting  of 
the  word  “ Ueberwachung  ” (watching  over)  for  “ Bestrafung  ” 
(punishment)  in  the  statute. 

30  Ohne  feste  Wohnung. 

31  It  is,  of  course,  also  true  that  Section  361,  6 conflicts  with 
Section  180. 


140 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

the  statute:  whether  regulated  prostitutes  live  scattered, 
as  in  Berlin,  or  interned,  as  the  Hamburg  police  prefer, 
regulation  in  so  far  as  it  involves  their  inhabiting  dwell- 
ing-places approved  by  the  police  is  inconsistent  with 
the  section  quoted.  Grave  doubt  exists  further  as  to 
whether  in  any  event  compulsory  inscription  is  legally  de- 
fensible. The  present  Imperial  Chancellor  admitted  that 
the  law  is  “ illogical  and  confused ; ” 32  and  the  most  re- 
cent decision  of  the  Reichsgericht,  involving  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  statute,  concedes  that  “ the  competency 
of  the  police  in  the  matter  of  compulsory  inscription  is 
not  uncontested.”  33  A recent  ministerial  instruction  34 
endeavors  to  break  the  force  of  objection,  as  far  as 
possible  without  amendment  of  the  statute,  by  insisting 
that,  though  the  police  still  retain  the  power  of  forcible 
registration,  it  is  not  to  be  exercised  in  Prussia  until  the 
woman  has  been  regularly  convicted  of  professional  pros- 
titution. A recent  defence  of  the  adequacy  of  the  legal 
basis  pursues  a line  of  argument  itself  calculated  to 
deepen  mistrust : “ The  police  are  competent  to  do  what- 

soever follows  from  the  general  nature  of  their  business; 
they  are  entitled  to  take  such  measures  as  are  naturally 
dictated  by  their  objects.  They  are  therefore  competent 
to  take  such  measures  in  reference  to  prostitution  as  con- 
tribute to  the  achievement  of  police  purposes.  Now  the 
regulations  governing  prostitution  aim  to  protect  order 

32  A Speech  in  Prussian  House  of  Representatives,  February  21, 
1907. 

33  See  a review  of  the  Court’s  judgment  in  Mitteilungen  der 
deutschen  Gesellschaft  zur  Bekdmpfung  der  Geschlechtskrankheiten 
X,  pp.  49-51. 

34  Dated  December  11,  1907.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  safe- 
guard applies  only  to  Prussia,  and  there  only  to  women  who  have 
not  previously  been  inscribed. 

I4I 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

and  health.  Regulation  is  therefore  a function  that  fol- 
lows  from  the  general  competency  of  the  police.  That 
is  true  in  Prussia  as  in  France.  The  stipulations  of  the 
police  regulations  have  therefore  the  force  of  law.”  35  It 
will  be  observed  that  this  author  makes  no  pretense  of 
higher  warrant  than  that  of  necessity  as  judged  by  a 
police  authority  making  its  own  rules.  But  perhaps 
still  stronger  evidence  of  the  legal  insecurity  of  the  ex- 
isting systems  is  furnished  by  the  radical  changes  pro- 
posed in  the  draft  of  a new  criminal  code.  Conceding 
that  prostitution  as  such  is  not  to  be  punishable  as  a 
crime,  it  takes  the  position  that  “ it  is  necessary  to  watch 
prostitution  ” and  empowers  the  police  to  issue  the  neces- 
sary regulations,  subject  to  prior  enactments  on  the  part 
of  the  state  legislatures ; but  these  regulations  may  not 
distinguish  between  controlled  and  non-controlled  pros- 
titutes,— they  must  be  applicable  to  all  alike.36 

The  most  striking  fact  in  connection  with  the  opera- 
tion of  all  systems  of  regulation  is  the  small  inscription 

35  Dr.  Jur.  Kurt  Wolzendorff,  Polizei  und  Prostitution  (Tubingen, 
1911)  pp.  57-59,  abridged.  Schmolder’s  writings,  already  cited, 
argue  strongly  against  the  sufficiency  of  the  statutory  basis  relied  on 
by  Wolzendorff.  Blaschko  points  out  that  the  other  states  of  the 
Empire  have  less  legal  warrant  for  regulation  than  Prussia  (Art.  on 
Prostitution , loc.  cit.,  p.  1236). 

. 36  Vorentwurf,  loc.  cit.  Begrilndung,  pp.  850-853.  High  authori- 
ties question  even  then  whether  the  proposed  changes  are  suffi- 
ciently explicit  to  put  the  systems  of  regulation  beyond  all  ques- 
tion. Lindenau  suggests  a definite  declaration,  but  there  is  no 
likelihood  of  its  adoption  ( Die  strafrechtUche  Bekampfung  der 
Gewerbsunzucht,  in  Prof,  von  Liszt’s  Festschrift) . 

I am  informed  by  a member  of  the  Swedish  Commission  that  regu- 
lation in  Stockholm  is  based  on  a set  of  instructions  issued  by  the 
Grand  Governor,  but  never  signed  by  him,  as  is  regularly  the  custom. 
The  official  in  question  is  described  as  having  been  unwilling  to 
affix  his  signature  to  such  a document;  the  police  overlook  the 
technical  defect. 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

list.  There  are,  it  is  true,  variations:  but  the  largest 
list,  that  of  Paris,  probably  includes  hardly  more  than 
one  prostitute  in  eight,  from  which  maximum  the  lists 
in  other  cities  decline  rapidly  to  utter  insignificance. 
The  following  table  exhibits  the  size  of  the  inscription 
lists,  the  population  of  the  towns  in  question,  and  the  ratio 
between  the  two.37 

The  facts  that  stand  out  are  the  fractional  nature  of 
enrolment  at  its  very  best,  and  the  enormous  variations 
in  ratio.  I shall  point  out  the  reasons  for  this  and  later 
inquire  for  the  effects.38 

RATIO  OF  INSCRIBED  WOMEN  TO  POPULATION 


Number  of  in-  Ratio  of  lat- 

Population  scribed  women  ter  to  former 

Paris  2,888,110  6,000  (Approx.)  1 to  481 

Marseilles 39 550,619  639  1 to  861 

Bordeaux  261,678  410  1 to  638 

Lille  217,807  108  1 to  2,016 

Nantes  170, 535  125  1 to  1,364 

Le  Havre  136,159  136  1 to  1,001 

Toulon  104,582  325  1 to  322 

Berlin  2,071,257  3,559  1 to  582 

Hamburg  93L035  935  1 to  995 


37  For  table  showing  numbers  inscribed  in  German  cities,  as  com- 

pared with  population,  see  A.  Blaschko,  Hygiene  der  Prostitution 
(Jena,  1901)  p.  55.  Since  this  date,  the  disproportion  has  been  ag- 
gravated, rather  than  mended.  Valuable  statistical  tables  showing 
date  of  installation  of  sanitary  control,  number  of  inscribed  women, 
their  ages,  etc.,  are  given  by  Dufour:  Geschichte  der  Prostitution 

(translated  from  the  French,  Berlin,  5th  Edition,  no  date)  Vol. 
Ill,  part  2,  pp.  38-49. 

38  The  disproportion  is  practically  greater  than  the  ratios  show ; 
for  the  populations  given  take  no  account  of  suburbs  or  transients ; 
adding  the  former  alone,  Berlin  had  an  estimated  population  of 
3,400,000  in  1910.  The  populations  given  are  taken  from  the  States- 
man’s Year-Book  1913;  the  number  of  inscribed  women  as  given 
does  not  always  represent  the  same  year  as  the  population,  but  the 
difference  is  negligible. 

39  For  the  French  statistics  I am  indebted  to  M.  Victor  Augag- 
neur,  Depute  du  Rhone,  and  to  Dr.  Louis  Fiaux. 

143 


Prostitution  in  Europe 


RATIO  OF  INSCRIBED  WOMEN  TO  POPULATION 


Population 


Number  of  in- 
scribed women 


Munich  

...  596,467 

173 

1 to 

Dresden  

...  548,308 

293 

1 to 

Cologne  40 

...  516,527 

600 

1 to 

Frankfort  

•••  414,576 

300 

I to 

Stuttgart  

22 

I to 

Bremen 

...  247,437 

75 

I to 

Mannheim  

...  193,902 

14 

I to 

Augsburg  , 

102,487 

6 

I to 

Munster  

. . . 90,254 

1 

I to 

Vienna  

..  .2,031,498 

1,689 

I to 

Budapest  

...  880,371 

2,000  (Approx.) 

I to 

Rome  

...  542,123 

225 

I to 

Stockholm  41  . .. , 

....  346,599 

554 

I to 

Brussels  

182 

I to 

Geneva  

...  I54T59 

86 

I to 

Ratio  of  lat- 
ter to  former 
,44i 

,871 

828 


440 

409 

625 


Different  years  show  a considerable  fluctuation  in  the 


above  totals,  but  the  general  tendency  is  markedly  down- 
ward. Paris,  for  instance,  inscribed  4,519  in  the  year 
1830,  when  its  population  was  800,000;  42  in  1873, 
registration  was  practically  the  same,  4,603;  thenceforth 
it  declined  steadily  to  2,816  a decade  later;  since  that 
time  a progressive  rise  brings  it  in  1903  to  6,418; 43  a de- 
cline is  again  in  progress,  for  1910  does  not  exceed  6,000. 
At  Berlin  there  was  a steady  rise  from  1886  to  1896:  the 


40  Accuracy  is  more  difficult  in  dealing  with  Cologne  than  else- 
where, because  a fresh  list  is  compiled  annually  and  no  names  are 
removed  in  the  course  of  the  year  though  many  women  disappear. 
A list  that  at  the  close  of  the  year  contains  1,500  names  probably 
amounts  at  no  time  to  more  than  600,  of  whom  about  one-half  regu- 
larly report  to  the  police.  This  statement  is  based  on  personal  in- 
formation, confirmed  by  Zinnser,  Zeitschrift  V,  p.  202. 

41  Enrolment  for  year  1912. 

42  Moll,  loc.  cit.,  p.  371. 

43  Rapport,  Conseil  Munic.  loc.  cit.,  p.  29.  These  and  other  sta- 
tistics may  be  found  in  Fiaux,  Police  des  Moeurs,  III,  pp.  907,  etc.; 
R.  Degante,  La  Lutte  contre  la  Prostitution  (Paris,  1909)  p.  109; 
Talmeyr,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  246-7. 


144 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

list  stood  at  3,006  in  the  former  year,  5,098  in  the  lat- 
ter; since  which  time,  despite  increased  population,  the 
enrolment  declined  to  3,115  in  1905 ; 44  i.  e.,  almost  40%. 
The  last  figures  obtainable  show  a registration  of  3,559. 
In  Vienna,  1,780  stood  on  the  books  in  1900,  decreasing 
year  by  year  until  only  1,441  remained  in  1910;  since 
the  revision  of  the  rules  in  that  year,  increased  vigor  has 
brought  about  an  increase  to  i,689-45  Hamburg  has  re- 
ceded from  1,266  in  1903  to  935  in  1910.46  Breslau 
dropped  from  1,856  in  1889  to  1,045  just  ^ve  years 
later;47  Mannheim  from  60  in  1890  to  13  in  1902 48 
Stockholm  reached  practically  the  same  high  water  mark 
at  different  intervals,  showing  the  inevitable  fluctuations 
with  which,  there  as  everywhere  else,  inscription  has 
been  pursued.  In  1903  the  number  stood  at  936, — the 
figure  which  it  had  also  reached  over  a quarter  of  a cen- 
tury before.  Thereupon  there  came  a decided  drop:  119 
women  had  been  newly  enrolled  in  1903;  67  were  en- 
rolled in  1904.  By  the  year  1912,  the  total  enrolment 

— itself  considerably  larger  than  the  effective  enrolment 

— had  sunk  to  554-49 

In  most  cities  — as  the  figures  above  given  show  — > 
regulation  is  moribund,  and  in  many  quite  dead.  As 
compared  with  the  total  volume  of  prostitution,  the  en- 
rolment is  at  the  best  unimportant,  and  at  the  worst,  al- 
together negligible.  Paris,  as  I have  said,  registers  per- 

44  P.  Hirsch,  Verbrechen  und  Prostitution  (Berlin,  1907)  p.  11. 

45  For  these  and  all  other  Austrian  statistics  I am  indebted  to  Dr. 
Anton  Baumgarten. 

46  Official  figures  obtained  through  American  Consulate. 

47  Zeitschrift  I,  p.  197. 

48  Ibid , II,  p.  96. 

^Johansson,  loc.  cit p.  14. 


i4S 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

haps  one  in  eight.  If,  as  is  estimated,  there  are  30,000 
prostitutes  in  Vienna,50  the  maximum  inscription  is 
barely  5%.  As  opposed  to  a registration  of  225  in 
Rome,  the  police  records  show  5,000  women  under  ob- 
servation at  one  time  oir  another.51  In  the  year  1909, 
140  women  were  inscribed  at  Munich;  during  the  same 
year,  the  police  were  keeping  track  of  2,076  clandestine 
prostitutes : the  enrolment  was  thus  less  than  7%  of 
those  actually  known, — and  they  were  only  part  of  the 
whole;52  in  1911,  with  173  women  inscribed,  2,574 
clandestines  were  under  police  observation,  the  former 
about  7%  of  the  latter.53 

The  inexperienced  outsider  may  jump  to  the  con- 
clusion that  an  active  and  efficient  police  administration 
could  easily  enough  gather  into  its  net  most  — or  at 
least  many  — of  those  who  now  slip  through.  As  a mat- 
ter of  fact,  there  has  been  in  some  towns  no  lack  of  en- 
deavor to  accomplish  this  very  thing;  but  it  does  not, 
and  cannot,  succeed  for  reasons  that  will  be  explained. 
And  this  quite  regardless  of  the  existence  of  any  strong 
sentiment  adverse  to  regulation  as  such. 

Nowhere,  of  course,  is  forcible  inscription  possible,  un- 
less a clear  case  can  be  made  out.  The  police  agents 
are  therefore  bound  to  proceed  with  great  circumspec- 
tion. They  are  indeed  instructed  that  a hundred  omis- 
sions are  preferable  to  a single  error,  or  apparent  error. 
The  agent  may  lay  hands  on  the  poor  and  friendless 
street- walker  without  danger  of  exciting  hostile  crit- 

50  Zeitschrift  IX,  p.  217. 

51  From  official  data  exhibited  to  me  at  headquarters. 

52  P.  Bruns,  Geheime  Prostitution  (Dresden,  1911)  p.  6. 

63  Officially  communicated. 


146 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

icism;  but  for  several  reasons  the  more  sophisticated1 
forms  of  prostitution  he  dare  not  touch.  Proof  is 
harder;  the  woman  has  friends;  the  public  resents  in- 
terference with  personal  liberty.  Forcible  enrolment, 
therefore,  very  quickly  encounters  limits  beyond  which 
it  cannot  be  pushed.  The  mere  size  of  the  force  at  the 
disposal  of  the  police  inspectors  makes  little  difference; 
Berlin  has  a relatively  large  body  of  agents,  Vienna  a 
very  small  one.  Yet  the  latter  achieves  almost  as  much 
as  the  former,  because  neither  can  forcibly  detain  any 
but  the  most  obvious  and  flagrant  offenders. 

But  there  is  another  difficulty,  connected  with  the 
size  of  the  morals  division.  Berlin  sets  aside  200  men 
for  the  service;  Paris  240;  Vienna  6;  Brussels  6;  Dres- 
den 18;  Frankfort  14;  Hamburg  24;  Budapest  32; 
Bremen  3.  It  is  complained  at  Berlin  that  200  are 
inadequate;  clearly  then  six  cannot  suffice  for  Vienna. 
Yet  to  any  proposition  to  increase  the  force  materially 
the  objection  is  made  that  only  a small  body  of  men 
can  be  protected  against  corruption  or  defilement.  The 
morals  police  are  thus  on  the  horns  of  a dilemma;  if 
numerous  enough  to  be  aggressive  they  are  exposed  to 
corruption;  if  few,  they  are  inadequate.  For,  be  it  re- 
membered, wherever  enforced  inscription  is  in  vogue, 
the  morals  police  have  enormous  power.  It  practically 
lies  with  them  to  say  whether  the  clandestine  prostitute 
walking  the  streets  is  to  be  cited  before  the  division  head 
for  punishment  and  enrolment;  whether  the  registered 
woman  is  to  be  permitted  with  impunity  to  violate  the 
stipulations  above  given,  or  to  be  punished  for  infrac- 
tion thereof.  In  general,  the  perils  to  which  a large 

147 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

force  is  exposed  have  decided  the  authorities  in  favor  of 
a small  one;  with  the  result  that  thorough  and  consistent 
action  is  impossible. 

A somewhat  apologetic  attitude  has  resulted  from  the 
general  failure  of  even  forcible  inscription  to  make  a 
better  showing : one  is  told  that  the  police  do  not  desire  a 
large  list;  that  registration  is  purposely  limited,  etc. 
The  concrete  evidence  in  favor  of  this  purpose  is  the 
presence  at  the  larger  police  establishments  of  a social 
worker  who  endeavors  to  dissuade  women  from  the  pur- 
suit of  a vicious  life;  but  this  explanation  is  not  convinc- 
ing. Of  course,  regulation  has  no  interest  in  keeping 
in  prostitution  women  who  can  be  induced  to  leave  it; 
but  in  the  case  of  women  who  are  prostitutes  and  who 
cannot  be  dissuaded  to  desist,  regulation,  if  effective, 
must  certainly  enroll  them.  Regulation  has  no  desire 
to  swell  the  ranks;  but  it  cannot  succeed  unless  it  has 
a complete  list  of  those  really  in  the  ranks.  The  police 
apology  is  an  indirect  admission  that  under  modern  con- 
ditions prostitution  by  reason  of  its  protean  nature  can- 
not be  catalogued. 

From  the  impossibility  of  cataloguing  prostitution, 
other  disastrous  consequences  to  which  I have  already 
adverted,  inevitably  flow.  Wherever  a certain  num- 
ber of  individuals  are  guilty  of  an  offence,  and  but  an 
inconsiderable  proportion  of  the  guilty  are  punished, 
the  favoritism  of  the  law  leads  inevitably  into  blackmail 
and  corruption,  by  which  it  is  still  further  defeated.  I 
shall  discuss  this  aspect  of  the  problem  somewhat  more 
fully  later  on ; 54  but  at  this  point  it  is  important  to  note 


54  In  Chapters  VII  and  X. 


148 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

that,  despite  the  unimpeachable  character  of  the  police 
heads,  and  the  splendid  quality  of  the  general  force, 
wherever  forcible  inscription  is  practised,  that  portion  of 
the  police  force  which  comes  into  contact  with  prostitu- 
tion, viz.,  the  morals  police,  is  widely  believed  to  be 
contaminated.  Whether  with  money  or  favors,  the 
women  buy  immunity  from  inscription;  the  patrolman, 
warned  by  his  superiors  that  it  is  better  to  let  a hundred 
guilty  women  escape  than  to  make  one  mistake,  easily 
conceals  corruption  beneath  the  pretense  of  caution. 

Forcible  inscription  is  therefore  predestined  to  failure. 
But  there  are  weighty  objections  to  it  even  in  the  limited 
form  in  which  it  is  still  employed  in  a few  places.  For 
it  traverses  at  right  angles  the  modern  spirit.  Our  dis- 
cussion of  the  nature  of  prostitution  indicated  that  it  is 
frequently  only  a phase  through  which  thousands  of 
women  pass;  their  individual  interest  and  the  interest  of 
society  require  that  every  facility  for  exit  and  oblivion 
should  be  furnished.  Regulation  does  precisely  the  re- 
verse: it  brands  the  scarlet  letter  upon  the  woman’s 
forehead.  The  heedless  victim  of  an  escapade  may  be 
thus  converted  into  a life-long  outcast;  society  may  be 
saddled  with  her  and  the  harm  she  spreads  as  a per- 
manent burden,  hardly  to  be  got  rid  of,  so  long  as  she 
lives.  And  this  power,  which  once  for  all  deprives 
her  of  the  aspiration  to  improve,  is  ultimately  lodged 
in  the  hands  of  an  ordinary  patrolman : his  observation, 
his  judgment,  his  interpretation,  his  assertion  determine 
whether  or  not  she  is  to  be  pushed  across  the  dividing 
line  into  the  abyss:  his  word  against  the  girl’s.  Bad 
though  she  may  be,  her  reluctance  to  request  inscription 

149 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

is  the  faint  voice  of  her  better  self,  not  yet  completely 
silenced ; assuredly  it  is  the  function  of  a society,  whose 
arrangements  are  by  no  means  guiltless  of  her  fate,  not 
to  extinguish,  but  to  foster  the  feeble  flicker  of  en- 
dangered personality.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in 
every  city  there  are  at  this  moment  thousands  of  women 
technically  liable  to  inscription  who  will  in  their  middle 
twenties  and  later  emerge  from  immorality  and  prosti- 
tution ; 55  they  can  for  the  most  part  emerge,  precisely 
because  they  are  not  inscribed;  successful  inscription 
would  in  most  cases  finally  rupture  the  tie  that  will  ulti- 
mately rescue  them.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  a 
mature  woman  ought  to  be  permitted  by  society  even 
voluntarily  to  brand  herself  a professional  prostitute : 
there  is  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  no  modern  society 
can  afford  to  compel  her  to  do  so.56 

The  essentially  medieval  character  of  forcible  inscrip- 
tion, by  which  alone,  I repeat,  any  showing  at  all  can 
be  made,  is  most  clearly  illustrated  by  its  connection 
with  summary  police  power.  No  system  of  inscription 
can  achieve  even  the  fractional  success  of  the  Paris  and 
Berlin  systems  if  it  allows  the  accused  girl  counsel  and 
witnesses.  For  the  lists  are  kept  at  their  present  minimal 
size  only  because  the  police  can  by  summary  action  build 
them  up  as  fast  as  they  melt  away.57  Frightful  mis- 
carriages of  justice  are  bound  to  occur  in  consequence 
of  arbitrary  action:  for  example,  a woman  leaving  her 

55  See  Chap.  I,  pp.  21,  etc. 

56  It  is  true  that  registered  women  sometimes  return  to  a de- 
cent life.  But  registration  enormously  increases  the  difficulty  and 
lessens  the  probability  of  her  doing  so. 

57  How  disappearance  affects  the  problem  is  explained  below. 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

wretched  home  in  the  Rue  des  Cordiers  is  arrested  by  a 
morals  policeman,  in  spite  of  her  protestations  that  she 
is  on  her  way  to  procure  medicine  for  a sick  child; 
while  she  is  detained  in  prison,  the  child  dies  in  the 
course  of  the  night.58  Following  her  arbitrary  detention, 
the  Paris  suspect  is  brought  before  a police  bureaucrat, 
who  hears  the  accusing  patrolman,  asks  the  girl  or 
woman,  perhaps  terrified  and  certainly  undefended,  a few 
questions  and  summarily  orders  her  enrolment,  if  he  so 
please:  thenceforth  she  is  not  only  a social,  but  a legal 
outcast.  She  can  by  no  legal  ingenuity  be  brought  be- 
fore a regularly  constituted  court ; she  is  amenable  to  po- 
lice authority  alone.  Should  she  break,  or  be  accused  of 
breaking,  the  stipulations  to  which  she  is  now  compul- 
sorily subordinated,  she  must  accept  the  penalties  im- 
posed by  the  bureau  chief,  without  protest.  Utter  help- 
lessness is  her  lot ; and  that  too  amid  conditions  that  con- 
spire to  bring  about  not  improvement  but  further  degra- 
dation. For  the  accessories  to  Paris  regulation,  the  depot 
at  police  headquarters,  the  hospital  and  prison  at  St. 
Lazare  are  sheer  survivals  into  our  day  of  the  barbarous 
dungeons  of  the  middle  ages.  Whoso  enters  them  may 
be  said  with  truth  to  leave  all  hope  behind.  The  present 
presiding  officer  endeavors  to  impart  a more  or  less 
humane  spirit  to  his  decisions;  but  the  conditions  under 
which  his  power  is  exercised  would  overtax  the  wisdom 
of  Solomon.  The  task  is  itself  wholly  out  of  keeping 
with  the  modern  spirit. 

Essentially,  the  objections  to  summary  police  action 

58Meunier,  Annexes,  pp.  271-2;  also  Ibid,  passim.  See  also 
Rapport  de  Dr.  Lucas,  Ibid. 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

are  equally  strong  in  Germany.  Dr.  Lindenau  argues 
that  the  woman  is  technically  somewhat  protected  against 
police  tyranny ; but,  he  adds : “ One  must  none  the  less 

grant  that  the  procedure  in  question  is  not  well  known 
to  them.  Moreover,  at  best  it  procures  only  a police 
decision  reached  on  the  basis  of  the  police  officer’s  per- 
sonal impressions.” 

Insuperable  difficulties  thus  confront  a vigorous  regu- 
latory policy.  If  regulation  is  needed  to  protect  order 
and  health  and  to  prevent  scandal,  then  it  is  obviously 
impossible  to  leave  it  optional  with  the  prostitute 
whether  she  will  be  inscribed  or  not;  force  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  success.  But  to  force  there  is  at  once  the 
objection  that  it  can  be  applied  to  but  relatively  few 
cases  at  all ; that  it  cannot  be  applied  to  these  without  sus- 
pending all  legal  guarantees,  and  that,  once  these  are 
suspended,  the  way  is  open  to  corruption  and  oppression 
that  are  to  a modern  community  utterly  intolerable. 

But  we  have  not  yet  recounted  all  the  difficulties  that 
beset  regulation.  Not  even  forcible  enrolment  can 
greatly  swell  the  lists  unless  the  inscription  of  minors 
is  allowed.  That  the  duty  of  the  state  towards  defence- 
less or  erring  children  is  custodial  would  appear  to  be  a 
principle  on  which  modern  society  had  already  agreed; 
for  a minor,  at  any  rate,  there  is  always  at  least  a ray  of 
hope.  Experience  already  touched  on  shows,  further,  that 
though  prostitution  is  commonest  in  the  teens  and  early 
twenties,  large  numbers  of  those  who  give  way  in  these 
years  recover  their  self-possession  afterwards.  Hence, 
forcible  or  even  permissible  inscription  of  girls  under 
twenty-one  is  the  very  acme  of  unwisdom  and  inhuman- 

J52 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

ity.  Yet,  without  it,  a substantial  inscription  list  is 
impossible.  Had  the  Paris  police  refused  to  enroll 
minors  their  list,  already  relatively  small,  would  have 
almost  collapsed:  between  1888  and  1903,  12,471  women 
were  inscribed  at  Paris,  38%  of  whom  were  minors 
at  the  time.59  In  the  year  1901,  635  women  over  21 
years  old  and  660  minors  were  forcibly  enrolled, — more 
minors  than  adults ! 60  The  same  monstrous  practice 
prevails  elsewhere.  The  Stockholm  regulations  state 
that  as  a rule  girls  under  17  are  not  to  be  inscribed;  yet 
of  4,651  new  registrations  between  1859  and  1904,  1,353 
were  under  twenty  years  of  age;61  of  338  women  en- 
rolled in  1905,  196  (i.  e.,  58%)  had  been  registered  dur- 
ing their  minority.62  In  Germany  minors  are  inscribed 
in  Bonn,  Danzig,  Dessau  (“  but  not  under  sixteen  years  of 
age!”),  Frankfort,  where  43  were  between  sixteen  and 
nineteen  years  of  age,  Mannheim,  Rostock,  Wiesbaden, 
etc.  In  the  small  Munich  enrolment — 143  in  1909  — 
there  were  six  minors, — Munich-born.63  Dufour’s 
tables  show  the  age  of  the  youngest  inscribed  prostitute 
in  the  various  German  cities,  up  to  1885  : ln  East  Prussia, 
she  was  fourteen  years  old ; in  the  Rhine  province, 
Schlesien,  Posen,  West  Prussia,  Bavaria,  fifteen;  in 
eight  others  over  fifteen  and  under  sixteen.64  Berlin 

59  Annexes,  Report,  French  Com.,  p 388.  See  also  Fiaux,  Police 
des  Moeurs  I,  pp.  196,  etc. ; ditto  UIntegrite  intersexuelle  des  peu- 
ples  et  les  Governments  (Paris,  1910)  pp.  205,  etc.;  Rapports,  Con- 
seil  Munic.  loc  cit.,  pp.  31,  etc.  Commenge,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  599,  etc. 

60  Fiaux,  Police  des  Moeurs  I,  p.  38;  III,  p.  609.  Eee  also  Eugene 
Prevost,  De  la  Prostitution  des  Enfants. 

61  Report , Swedish  Commission  III,  p.  63. 

62  Welander  in  Zeitschrift  XI,  p.  395. 

63  Meher,  loc.  cit.,  p.  215. 

64  Loc . cit.,  pp.  41-49. 


153 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

now  refuses  inscription  below  eighteen  and  acts  cau- 
tiously in  case  of  girls  between  eighteen  and  twenty-one; 
but  in  1898  — before  the  adoption  of  the  present  policy 
— out  of  846  newly  inscribed  women,  229  were  minors 
of  whom  seven  were  fifteen  years  old,  twenty-one  six- 
teen years  old.  But  the  evidence  afforded  by  Vienna  is 
even  more  telling.  The  inscribed  list  there  is  on  the 
most  favorable  interpretation  absurdly  small:  even  so, 
16%  of  those  inscribed  are  minors;  meanwhile  of  non- 
registered  prostitutes  arrested  on  the  streets  — prosti- 
tutes who,  be  it  noted,  must  be  enrolled  if  the  system  is 
to  be  even  fairly  adequate  to  its  intention  — over  57% 
are  minors.65  It  is  thus  evident  that  in  this  essential 
matter,  the  system  is  also  on  the  horns  of  a dilemma: 
if  minors  are  not  enrolled,  the  system  collapses;  if  minors 
are  enrolled,  society  perpetrates  an  infamy. 

A further  weakness  inherent  in  forced  inscription  has 
already  been  alluded  to:  it  is  like  pouring  water  into  a 
sieve.  When  once  the  obvious  cases  have  been  gathered, 
the  total  can  hardly  be  increased,  no  matter  how  great 
the  pressure.  Women  disappear  on  the  one  hand  as 
fast  as  they  are  registered  on  the  other.  In  a single 
month  in  Berlin  sixty  dropped  out;  at  Cologne,  though 
1,200  are  registered  in  the  course  of  the  year,  the  active 
list  is  hardly  half  that  number.  So  at  Vienna,  while 
2,600  stand  on  the  books  at  the  close  of  the  year,  1,000 
have  vanished  in  the  same  period,  so  that  the  effective 
inscription  is  about  1,600.  Johansson’s  careful  studies 
of  the  2,442  women  enrolled  in  Stockholm  between  1859 

65  Finger  and  Baumgarten,  Die  Regelung  der  _ Prostitution  in 
Oesterreich  (Reprinted)  from  the  Wiener  Medisinische  Wochen- 
schrift  No’s.  35  etc.,  1909). 


I54 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

and  1884  show  that  23%  leave  in  the  first  year  after  in- 
scription.66 With  a total  enrolment  of  3,582  at  Paris  in 
1880,  1,757  women  disappeared, — 46  by  death,  one  by 
marriage,  six  to  return  to  a decent  life,  the  rest  simply 
dropped  out,  eluding  police  control  in  one  way  or  another. 
The  following  table  exhibits  the  status  there  in  other 
years  selected  at  random : 67 

Total  Returned 

Number  of  Disappeared  to 

Inscribed  in  the  course  of  Decent 


Year  Women  the  Year  Died  Married  Life 

1881  3,160  1,524  34  2 27 

1884 2,917  985  39  13  6 

1887 4,681  2,503  18  8 22 

1893 4,793  M2i  9 8 17 

1897 5,233  i,599  14  27  43 

1900 6,222  823  26  39  57 


Finally  during  the  year  1901,  1,574  women  were  newly 
enrolled,  while  1,880  dropped  out;  of  the  latter,  52  died, 
34  married,  77  found  other  means  of  subsistence,  and 
1,717  “ disappeared.”  68  A certain  point  once  reached, 
the  structure  topples  as  fast  as  it  is  built  up.  At  Dres- 
den I was  frankly  told : “ Compulsion  is  useless ; it 

only  increases  hiding  and  disappear ing.”  Forcible  in- 
scription therefore  cannot  be  operated. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  I have  said,  if  inscription  is 
voluntary,  the  whole  thing  goes  to  pieces.  The  size  of 
the  enrolment  at  Bremen,  Stuttgart  and  Munich,  where 
the  girl  decides  for  herself,  is  absurdly  small.  The  in- 
ducements offered  are  very  substantial,  for  if  a woman 
complies  with  the  regulations  the  police  guarantee  her 

66  Loc.  cit.,  p.  10. 

67  Fiaux,  Police  des  Moeurs  III,  p.  658. 

68  Lepine,  in  Report,  French  Com.,  Annexes  p.  25. 

155 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  unhampered  prosecution  of  her  business.  Yet  even 
so,  a vestige  of  surviving  decency  intervenes  to  keep 
far  the  greater  number  from  voluntarily  branding  them- 
selves. In  Paris,  out  of  1,574  enrolments  in  1901,  only 
52  were  voluntary;  out  of  737  in  1908,  only  36  were 
voluntary.69 

Meanwhile,  neither  forced  inscription,  inscription  of 
minors  nor  inscription  of  working  girls  can  build  up  a list 
that  is  at  all  commensurate  with  the  magnitude  of  the 
evil.  The  showy  women  of  the  cafes,  the  boulevards, 
the  variety  theaters  are  absolutely  free  from  molesta- 
tion. The  Paris  police  “ do  not  arrest,  do  not  disturb, 
do  not  even  watch  the  well-to-do  courtesans  who  fre- 
quent the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  driving  a fast  pair  of 
horses;  who  live  luxuriously  near  the  Parc  Monceau; 
who  frequent  theaters,  concerts  and  balls, — in  a word 
the  aristocracy  of  the  underworld.  Nor  do  they  concern 
themselves  with  the  elegant  women  who  in  the  afternoon 
or  evening  promenade  on  the  main  thoroughfares.  These 
have  friends  among  the  journalists, — so  it  is  said;  they 
go  scot-free,  for  fear  of  scandal.  A third  class  is  also 
immune:  the  grisettes  of  the  Latin  Quarter.  The  de- 
moiselles of  the  Boulevard  St.  Michel  are  the  faithful 
friends  of  the  students:  they  are  respected  by  the 
police ! ” 70  These  women  are  all  technically  called 
“ clandestine/' — an  absurd  misnomer,  for  their  way  of 
living  is  as  notorious  as  that  of  any  registered  prostitute 
in  the  city.  A little  shrewdness  enables  them  readily  to 
avoid  giving  offence.  The  brunt  of  the  system  falls 

69  Fiaux,  Police  des  Moeurs  III,  p.  663. 

70Meunier  in  Annexes,  Report  French  Com.  p.  313. 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

upon  the  friendless  and  the  stupid.  The  truth  is  that 
no  effort  is  made  to  secure  thorough  inscription, — 
partly  because  it  is  foredoomed  to  failure,  partly  be- 
cause it  could  be  too  easily  balked  by  corruption  and  in- 
trigue, and  partly  for  another  reason  that  will  appear  in 
due  course.  And  this  is  just  as  true  in  other  cities  as  in 
Paris.  Everywhere  the  police  get  hold  of  the  dull  and 
abandoned  only.  I recall  the  indignant  rejoinder  of  a 
Berlin  street-walker,  on  my  asking  whether  she  was  in- 
scribed: “ No,  indeed,  only  the  stupid  are  inscribed.”  71 

Let  us  now  address  ourselves  to  ascertaining  the  re- 
sults of  regulation.  I have  stated  that  in  favor  of  the 
system  two  reasons  are  urged, — first,  that  it  is  necessary 
to  the  preservation  of  order;  second,  that  it  promotes 
the  public  health.  The  two  must  be  separately  investi- 
gated. 

In  respect  to  order  on  the  streets,  European  cities 
of  approximately  the  same  size  are,  with  few  exceptions, 
practically  alike.  I have  pointed  out  that  the  street- 
walker seeks  by  preference  the  main  channels  of  retail 
trade ; there  she  is  found  in  the  late  afternoon  and  even- 
ing hours,  noticeable  by  reason  of  slow  gait,  furtive  ex- 
pression, and  more  or  less  striking  garb.  Her  demeanor 
is  usually  restrained.  If  no  response  is  made  to  the 
invitation  conveyed  in  a glance,  she  passes  on;  doubt- 
ful or  encouraged,  she  stops  at  a show-window  or  turns 
off  into  a cafe  or  a side  street.  Only  in  the  late  hours 
of  night,  does  she  become  more  aggressively  provocative. 
This  description  applies  to  all  the  great  capitals  — Lon- 
don, Paris,  Berlin  and  Vienna;  some  fluctuation  may 

71  “ Nur  die  Dummen  werden  inscribiert.” 

*57 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

be  noticed  from  time  to  time,  according  as  police  pres- 
sure relaxes  or  increases;  but  this  is  also  equally  true 
of  all  alike.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  external 
appearances  in  no  one  of  them  differ  so  markedly  from 
external  appearances  in  the  others  as  to  imply  a dif- 
ferent policy  in  reference  to  the  phenomenon.  Public 
opinion  objects  to  scandal  without  requiring  complete 
suppression;  to  this  attitude  prostitution  has  everywhere 
accommodated  itself.  The  streets  of  London,  in  which, 
as  we  shall  see,  no  particular  action  is  taken  in  reference 
to  the  prostitute,  are  not  to  be  distinguished  essentially 
from  those  of  Paris  and  Berlin,  in  both  of  which  minute 
specifications  aim  to  exclude  the  evil  from  prominent 
thoroughfares;  nor  are  Paris  and  Berlin  distinguishable 
from  Vienna,  in  which  no  such  stipulations  are  made. 
External  conditions  have  everywhere  ameliorated;  the 
general  police  attitude  is  everywhere  understood  and  is 
everywhere  much  the  same : hence  London  without  regu- 
lation, Paris  with  a fairly  large  inscription,  Berlin  with 
a moderate  one,  and  Vienna  with  a small  one  reach  sub- 
stantially the  same  result. 

The  same  general  description  holds  of  smaller  cities. 
To  this  group  belong  Hamburg,  Cologne,  Frankfort, 
Munich,  Rome,  Budapest,  Copenhagen,  Stockholm, 
Lyons,  Glasgow,  Manchester,  and  Rotterdam.  Roughly 
speaking  these  cities  vary  in  population  from  one-half 
to  three-quarters  of  a million  inhabitants.  On  the  main 
thoroughfares  of  their  retail  trade,  a certain  number 
of  prostitutes  stroll  during  the  accustomed  hours;  in  the 
intervals  of  patrolling  the  streets,  the  women  are  to  be 
found  in  cafes,  coffee-houses,  variety  theaters,  in  which 

158 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

they  are  for  the  most  part  as  little  aggressive  as  when 
on  the  streets.  A glance,  a half  whispered  invitation 
and  a smile  form  the  usual  preliminaries,  rarely  carried 
further,  unless  an  encouraging  response  is  returned. 
From  time  to  time,  increased  pressure  on  the  part  of  the 
police  results  in  perceptible  improvement  of  street  con- 
ditions; and  this  happens  equally  in  Liverpool,  without 
regulation,  and  in  Cologne,  with  it.  I visited  the  latter 
city  at  a time  of  distinct  police  activity.  At  eleven 
o’clock  at  night  the  streets  on  which  women  used  to 
loiter  were  practically  clear;  a solitary  street-walker, 
very  suspicious  of  strangers,  explained  that  conditions 
had  become  intolerable  and  “ for  her  part,  she  was  going 
back  to  Frankfort.”  In  general,  however,  the  stranger 
walking  the  streets  of  Hamburg,  Rotterdam,  or  Munich 
would  be  entirely  unable  to  conclude  from  their  condi- 
tion whether  regulation  was  in  vogue  or  not;  or,  if  so, 
whether  it  is  thoroughly  or  perfunctorily  carried  out, 
and  to  which  type  the  system  belongs.  Surely,  a factor 
that  does  not  modify  the  result  cannot  be  important  in 
bringing  it  about. 

From  the  preceding  it  may,  I think,  be  fairly  concluded 
that  regulation  as  it  now  exists  in  European  cities  has 
failed  to  improve  order  on  the  streets.  For,  though 
there  has  been  improvement,  it  has  taken  place  generally, 
— in  cities  that  have  regulation,  in  cities  without  it ; in 
cities  where  there  is  a tolerable  inscription  list,  and  in 
cities  where  the  inscription  list  is  merely  nominal. 

On  the  other  hand  particular  attention  must  be  called 
to  the  fact  that  regulation  itself  is  an  obstacle  to  thorough 
cleaning  of  a city’s  streets;  it  prevents  the  authorities 

159 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

from  taking  vigorous  measures  in  this  direction.  The 
law  concedes  to  the  inscribed  prostitute  the  privilege  of 
living  by  immorality.  In  so  far  as  the  women  live  scat- 
tered, they  must  be  permitted  to  find  customers,  once  the 
right  to  earn  a livelihood  in  this  way  has  been  granted  ; 
for  that  purpose  they  must  be  permitted  to  show  them- 
selves in  the  streets,  in  cafes  and  elsewhere.  Street- 
walking as  such  is  not  forbidden  and  cannot  be  forbidden 
in  a regulated  city  unless  the  same  authority  that  author- 
izes a woman  to  practise  prostitution  sets  out  to  starve 
her.  Hence  inscribed  prostitutes  have  the  use  of  the 
streets  excepting  only  certain  thoroughfares  and  places 
that  are  mentioned  in  the  regulations. 

But  as  a matter  of  fact  not  even  these  excepted  places 
are  — or  can  be  — protected  from  the  inscribed  women. 
Common  sense  refuses  to  consider  it  a crime  to  walk 
on  Friedrichstrasse,  while  patrolling  one  block  below 
on  Charlottenstrasse  is  harmless ; or  that  a woman,  who 
is  free  to  promenade  on  Dorotheenstrasse  must  be  fined 
and  imprisoned  for  promenading  on  the  Linden  run- 
ning parallel  thereto.  The  inscribed  woman  who  con- 
ducts herself  without  scandal  on  streets  in  which  she  is 
tolerated,  soon  begins  unobtrusively  to  invade  those 
which  are  forbidden:  and  so  long  as  her  demeanor  is 
circumspect,  no  notice  is  taken.  Indeed  the  streets  from 
which  the  licensed  prostitute  has  agreed  to  withdraw 
are  not  infrequently  those  where  she  is  most  at  home; 
and  a large  loophole  for  police  favor  and  corruption  is 
thus  created  by  the  existence  of  rules  only  occasionally 
and  capriciously  enforced.  But  other  consequences  fol- 
low. What  is  allowed  to  the  inscribed  woman  cannot  be 

160 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

forbidden  to  the  uninscribed:  it  is  not  in  human  nature 
to  forbid  to  the  one  what  is  so  freely  allowed  to  the 
other.  The  very  fact  that  6,000  inscribed  women  are 
legally  entitled  to  patrol  most  streets  in  Paris  and  are 
suffered  to  patrol  the  others,  makes  it  impossible  for  the 
police  to  act  vigorously  and  continuously  against  six  or 
eight  times  as  many  clandestines  who  avail  themselves  of 
the  same  privilege.  “ What  effect  do  the  street  restric- 
tions have?”  I inquired  of  a Paris  police  functionary. 
“ None,”  he  replied,  “ they  are  a dead  letter.”  It  prac- 
tically results  that  the  police  do  not  systematically  inter- 
fere unless  scandal  arises ; in  which  event  they  would  in- 
terfere anyhow,  whether  regulation  existed  or  not. 

In  respect  to  street  order,  regulation  is,  therefore,  in 
my  judgment,  a hindrance,  not  a help,  for  it  is  at  war 
with  its  own  avowed  object.  Regulation  is  asked  for 
that  the  women  may  be  kept  under  control, — else,  it  is 
argued,  they  will  overrun  the  streets.  Once  under  con- 
trol, they  must  be  permitted  to  walk  the  streets;  and  if 
they,  responsible  to  the  police,  are  permitted,  how  can 
others,  not  so  obligated,  be  prevented  ? Hence  a measure 
designed  to  clean  the  streets  ends  by  tying  the  hands  of 
the  police,  so  that  the  streets  cannot  be  vigorously  cleaned. 
Consequently  no  regulated  city  possesses  streets  as  free 
from  scandal  as  the  streets  of  Amsterdam,  Zurich,  and 
Liverpool, — all  non-regulated  cities,  in  which  a consist- 
ent and  thoroughgoing  course  of  action  bearing  on  all 
women  alike  is  feasible. 

That  regulation,  so  far  from  cleaning  the  streets,  is 
inconsistent  with  that  effort  is  not  only  evidenced  by 
one’s  senses;  it  is  further  proved  by  police  reports.  If 

161 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

regulation  succeeded,  the  inscribed  women  would  give  the 
police  the  least  trouble:  as  a matter  of  experience,  they 
give  them  the  most.  Paris  affords  the  best  proof  of 
this  statement.  In  the  year  1903,  55,641  arrests  were 
made  among  inscribed  women  for  street  offences. 
Meanwhile,  among  the  far  more  numerous  non-inscribed 
only  2,821  arrests  were  made.  In  Stockholm,  against 
413  enrolled  women  in  1903,  9,908  complaints  were  noted 
and  1,273  arrests  made;  three  years  later  against  241 
women,  7,515  complaints  are  recorded,  1,246  arrests 
made.  In  the  years  1900-1904,  34.7%  of  the  enrolled 
women  received  hard  labor  sentences.72  So,  also,  in  Ger- 
many: the  enrolled  prostitutes  of  Breslau  and  the  num- 
ber of  them  arrested  in  the  course  of  the  same  year  were 
as  follows.73 


1890 

1891 

1892 

1893 

1894 

Enrolled  

1,630 

1,209 

1,162 

1,064 

1,045 

Arrested  

1,336 

i,S70 

1,707 

1,768 

i,995 

I shall  recur  to  these  figures  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
later  the  true  inwardness  of  regulation.  Meanwhile  it 
is  obvious  that  it  does  not  effectually  prevent  trouble. 

Attention  should  also  be  called  to  the  ineffectiveness  of 
regulation  in  dealing  with  offences.  The  women  are  ar- 
rested,— sentenced  now  to  prison  for  a few  days,  now  for 
longer  periods  or  set  free  at  once, — only  to  resume  the 
way  of  life  that  led  to  their  apprehension.  Of  the  55,- 
641  arrests  made  in  Paris,  above  mentioned,  41,719  re- 
sulted in  immediate  dismissal.  I watched  the  “ trial  ” 
of  a group  of  them, — several  of  whom  had  been  released 

72  Report,  Swedish  Com.  Ill,  pp.  54  and  59. 

73  Zeitschrift  I,  p.  298. 

162 


j 


Regulation  and  Order  — the  Streets 

from  prison  but  a few  hours  before  they  were  re-arrested ; 
one  of  them  had  spent  28  days  out  of  the  last  month  in 
St.  Lazare ; others  had  been  “ sent-up  ” more  times  than 
they  could  recall.  The  less  hardened  are  so  leniently 
dealt  with  that  the  restrictions  are  ignored  on  the  chance 
that  nothing  will  come  of  an  offence  against  them. 

The  offence  on  account  of  which  arrests  are  made  is 
usually  disorder  in  consequence  of  drink;  occasionally, 
some  more  serious  breach  has  been  committed.  But 
with  these  problems  ordinary  police  and  judicial  methods 
are  surely  quite  competent  to  deal.  As  much  has  been 
admitted  to  me  by  high  officials  in  both  Paris  and  Berlin. 
One  of  the  latter  indeed  has  publicly  proposed  to  drop 
the  order  function  from  the  duties  of  the  morals  police 
and  to  secure  the  health  function  by  attaching  the  work 
to  the  health  department;  and  the  new  regulations  of 
Vienna  to  some  extent  reflect  this  attitude. 

Indeed,  it  seems  somewhat  absurd  to  hold  that  the 
regular  police  is  competent  to  cope  with  thieves,  mur- 
derers, counterfeiters,  and  all  other  irregular  characters, 
crude  and  subtle,  that  are  attracted  like  moths  to  the  great 
cities,  while  they  lack  the  wit  or  courage  to  deal  with 
the  crime  and  disorder  in  which  prostitution  is  impli- 
cated; or  that  the  ordinary  process  of  law  and  rules  of 
evidence  suffice  for  the  former,  but  must  be  waived  in 
case  of  the  latter!  The  fact  is  that  the  state  of  the 
streets  depends  on  the  vigor  of  the  police,  the  sensitive- 
ness of  the  public,  the  management  of  the  drink  and 
amusement  traffic  and  the  attitude  of  the  courts.  An 
unfavorable  judicial  decision  as  to  what  constitutes  a 
nuisance  may  change  the  entire  aspect  of  things,  with  or 

163 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

without  regulation.  In  Copenhagen,  for  example,  after 
the  abolition  of  regulation,  the  courts  held  that  standing 
about  the  streets  was  not  illegal:  since  which  event,  the 
main  thoroughfares  abound  with  women.  The  Acting 
Recorder  of  Liverpool  held  in  1908  that  solicitation  to 
be  punishable  under  the  Vagrant  Act  of  1854  must  in- 
clude actual  indecency;  whereupon  the  Chief  Constable 
reports  that  “ we  are  going  back  somewhat  in  keeping  the 
streets  clear  of  this  nuisance/’ 74 

If  the  inscription  of  several  thousand  women  in  large 
capitals  is  practically  without  effect  in  controlling  the 
streets,  it  is  needless  to  discuss  the  effect  of  the  smaller 
or  only  nominal  inscription  lists  of  other  cities.  The 
registration  of  a few  hundred  women  in  Frankfort,  and 
of  still  more  insignificant  numbers  in  Dresden,  Munich, 
Stuttgart,  Brussels,  Geneva,  Lille  can  cut  absolutely  no 
figure  at  all;  its  sole  outcome  is  to  tie  the  hands  of  the 
authorities. 

So  much  for  the  streets;  and  in  cities  where  prostitu- 
tion is  scattered,  as  in  Munich  and  Berlin,  the  value  of 
regulation  in  respect  to  order  depends  altogether  on  what 
it  achieves  in  keeping  the  streets  free  from  scandal. 
There  are  those  who  say,  however,  that  it  is  not  fair 
to  arrive  at  an  unfavorable  verdict  on  this  basis  alone; 
they  urge  that  the  regulation  of  scattered  prostitution 
may  fail,  while  the  regulation  of  interned  prostitution 
may  succeed.  That  opens  up  the  question  of  bordells 
to  which  the  next  chapter  will  be  devoted. 

74  Report  on  the  Police  Establishment  and  State  of  Crime.  (Liv- 
erpool, 1910)  p.  63. 


164 


CHAPTER  VI 


REGULATION  AND  ORDER  — BORDELLS  AND  SEGRE- 
GATION 


The  bordell  defined. — Proprietor  and  inmate. — Licensing  of  bor- 
dells  increasingly  rare. — Subterfuge  adopted  in  Germany. — Rules 
governing  the  conduct  of  bordells. — Number  of  bordells  in  Europe. — 
Insignificant  as  compared  with  the  volume  of  prostitution. — Europe 
knows  nothing  of  “ segregation.” — Segregation  never  successful. — 
Why  the  bordell  is  dying  out. — Houses  of  prostitution  dependent  on 
White  Slave  Traffic. — Shameless  exploitation  of  inmates. — Effort  in 
Vienna  to  prevent  exploitation. — The  bordell  favorable  to  ab- 
normality.— The  bordell  and  crime. — The  bordell  and  street  condi- 
tions.— Does  the  bordell  reduce  other  forms  of  prostitution  ? — The 
prostitute’s  domicile. 

Strictly  speaking,  the  bordell  is  a licensed  or  recog- 
nized house  of  prostitution,  the  proprietor  of  which  is  en- 
titled to  carry  on  the  business  for  which  the  establishment 
is,  set  up.  At  Brussels  such  houses  are  licensed  on  payment 
of  specific  fees;1  at  Paris  and  Vienna  they  are  merely 

1 The  following  schedule  is  in  operation  ( Reglement  Sections  35, 
36)  : 

Houses  of  1st  Class 

1 to  5 girls 100  francs  monthly 

6 to  10  girls 150  francs  monthly 

Houses  of  2nd  Class 

I to  5 girls 50  francs  monthly 

6 to  10  girls. 75  francs  monthly 

Houses  of  the  3rd  Class 

1 to  5 girls... 25  francs  monthly 

6 to  10  girls 37  francs  monthly 

The  fees  are  payable  to  the  “ receveur  communal,” 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

authorized  — tolerated  by  the  police,  nominally  as  long 
as  they  comply  with  certain  stipulations;  actually,  as  a 
rule,  until  the  property  is  demolished  or  the  business  be- 
comes unprofitable.2  The  inmates  of  the  bordell  are  em- 
ployees working  on  a percentage  basis.  The  proprietor 
boards  and  lodges  them  and  requires  of  them  practically 
any  service  — normal  or  abnormal  — that  the  whim  of 
a patron  may  demand ; in  return  they  receive  — or  are 
credited  with  — part  of  the  receipts,  usually  fifty  per 
cent.  Against  this  sum,  theoretically  theirs,  are  usually 
charged  clothing,  perfumery,  medicines,  and  other  ex- 
tras. Their  cash  receipts  are  therefore  a diminishing 
quantity.  Exploitation  of  this  sort,  though  nowadays 
generally  forbidden  by  the  police  regulations,  it  is  prac- 
tically impossible  to  prevent,  as  we  shall  subsequently 
see;  in  most  instances,  the  authorities  do  not  even  try 
to  prevent  it. 

To  the  licensing  or  toleration  of  outright  houses  of 
prostitution  public  opinion  in  Europe  has  become  in- 
creasingly hostile  ; at  the  present  time,  it  is  permitted  in 
France,  Belgium,  Austria-Hungary,  and  Italy;  it  is  for- 
bidden in  the  German  Empire,  Holland,  Switzerland,3 
Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Great  Britain.  In 
France  and  Austria,  no  further  concessions  will  under 
any  circumstances  be  granted;  whenever,  and  for  what- 
ever reason,  a bordell  closes,  the  institution  is  by  so 
much  nearer  to  extinction.  The  bordell  is  therefore 
not  co-extensive  with  regulation  and  the  area  open  to  it 
is  constantly  shrinking.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is,  as  a 

2 In  rare  cases  a bordell  has  been  suppressed  on  account  of  crimi- 
nal or  too  scandalous  occurrences. 

3 Excepting  only  the  city  of  Geneva. 

1 66 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

matter  of  fact,  more  widespread  than  official  accounts 
lead  one  to  suppose.  For  in  many  German  cities, 
through  the  connivance  or  compulsion  of  the  police,  es- 
tablishments are  found  which  are  bordells  in  everything 
but  name.  The  statutes,  indeed,  expressly  forbid  their 
existence  in  language  the  purport  of  which  is  unmis- 
takable : “ Whoever  furnishes  an  opportunity  for  im- 

morality shall  be  punished  as  a pander.” 4 This  pro- 
vision makes  the  outright  licensing  or  recognition  of  the 
bordell  impossible,  since  the  keeper  would  be  at  once 
liable  to  criminal  prosecution.  In  police  jargon,5  there- 
fore, licensed  or  authorized  houses  conducted  by  pro- 
prietors are  non-existent  in  Germany.  They  exist  never- 
theless. I have  pointed  out  that  the  police  dictate  the 
dwelling-houses  of  registered  prostitutes;  they  thereby 
condone  the  technical  violation  of  law  by  the  landlords 
or  mistresses  of  those  dwellings  where  registered  pros- 
titutes are  authorized  or  ordered  by  them  to  live.  If 
then  several  women  are  permitted  or  ordered  to  “ board  ” 
at  a particular  house,  an  establishment  is  set  up  that  is 
a bordell  in  all  but  name.  Technically,  the  girls  are 
boarders,  going  through  the  form  of  paying  a certain  sum 
for  food  and  lodging,  while  conducting  their  business  af- 
fairs as  they  please;  as  a matter  of  fact  little  effort  is 
made  by  the  mistress  or  the  inmates  to  keep  up  the  make- 
believe.  In  reference  to  this  matter  the  police  or  other 
authorities  vary  in  candor  and  straightforwardness. 
“ We  have  in  Cologne  no  bordells  and  no  bordell 
streets,”  6 says  one ; a similar  declaration  was  made  in 

4 Imperial  Penal  Code,  Section  180. 

5 “ In  polizeitechnischem  Sinne.” 

6 Zeitschrift  V,  p.  209. 

167 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

Parliament  by  the  member  for  Hamburg.  But  in  their 
less  technical  moments  the  police  admit  the  practical 
truth;  a high  police  official  in  Cologne  stated  to  me  that 
while  some  of  the  houses  are  really  boarding-houses,  oth- 
ers are  really  bordells;  a similar  admission  was  made  in 
Frankfort.7  The  author  quoted  above  as  declaring  that 
there  are  no  bordells  in  Cologne,  subsequently  gives  a list 
of  streets  in  which  “ bordells  are  found.”  8 A question- 
naire was  addressed  by  Frau  Katharina  Scheven  to  the 
municipal  authorities  of  235  German  cities  in  1904,  four- 
teen of  which  frankly  admitted,  and  about  200  denied, 
the  existence  of  bordells : but  of  the  latter,  twenty  admit 
that  there  are  so-called  “ bordell  streets,”  i.  e.,  streets  in 
various  parts  of  the  city  in  which  bordells  are  found,  de- 
spite the  fact  that  technically  there  are  claimed  to  be  none 
at  all.9  Hamburg  and  Bremen  are  the  most  prominent 
examples  of  the  subterfuge  practised  by  the  police  of  cer- 
tain German  cities  in  this  matter.  In  different  sections 
of  the  former  there  are  “ boarding-places  ” to  which  the 
registered  prostitute  is  “ referred  ” ; nor  will  she  be  per- 
mitted to  remain  in  the  city  unless  she  “ boards  ” in  one 
or  another  of  them,  provided  the  police  so  require.  Her 
“ mistress  ” charges  her  for  rent  and  food.  Nominally, 
the  girl’s  earnings  are  her  own  and  the  mistress  does  not 
command  her  services.10  As  a matter  of  fact,  the  visitor 
is  greeted  on  entering  by  the  madame  and  her  girls, — 

7 “ Es  giebt  doch  Bordelle .”  The  distinction,  if  existent,  is  be- 
tween “ Kasernierung  ” and  “ Bordellierung  ” (the  enforced  board- 
inghouse and  the  bordell). 

8 Ibid,  p.  212.  “Es  bestehen  Bordelle  in,”  etc. 

9 Denkschrift  uber  die  Verthdltnisse  in  Bezug  auf  da$  Bordell- 
wesen  by  Katharina  Scheven:  Dresden,  1904  (Tables), 

*°  Iqh  kumraere  mich  niekt  weiter,”  said  one  to  me* 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

precisely  as  in  a bordell ; the  place  is  notorious  as  a bor- 
dell;  liquor  is  pressed  upon  the  guest’s  attention  and  all 
partake, — just  as  in  a bordell.  The  girls  exercise  no 
freedom  in  selecting  or  submitting  to  their  patrons. 
They  may  be  supposed  to  retain  their  earnings,  paying 
only  for  what  they  get;  but  in  practice  they  have  to  use 
every  possible  device  to  conceal  from  the  mistress  the 
amount  received  from  their  patrons  — an  unnecessary 
precaution  if  the  police  theory  were  correct.  Finally, 
the  sums  ostensibly  belonging  to  them  are  wiped  out  for 
the  most  part  by  “ extras  ” which  they  require  or  are 
cajoled  into  purchasing  from  or  through  the  so-called 
“landlady.”  Similar  establishments  exist  in  Dresden, 
Cologne,  and  Frankfort.11 

In  Bremen,  the  mistress  on  the  premises  is  eliminated 
and  the  women  maintain  a certain  measure  of  independ- 
ence. The  twenty-five  houses  of  Helenenstrasse  are  di- 
vided into  small  flats,  each  of  which  is  occupied  as  a 
housekeeping  apartment  by  a prostitute  and  her  servant. 
The  places  differ  from  bordells  in  the  absence  of  a land- 
lady, and  of  a general  meeting  and  drinking-room.  But 
meeting,  drinking,  and  indirect  exploitation  take  place 
nevertheless.  The  Bremen  establishments  differ  little  in 
operation  or,  as  we  shall  see,  in  outcome  from  the  con- 
ventional bordell.  Despite  this  very  common  violation  of 
the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  law  in  Germany,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  observe  that  the  courts  have  by  no  means  al- 
ways protected  the  police  in  their  disingenuous  procedure. 
In  Heidelberg  in  the  year  1907  three  houses  of  prosti- 

11  It  will  be  noted  that  Berlin  is  not  in  this  list ; the  law  is  there 
observed  in  both  letter  and  spirit. 

169 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tution  were  closed,  the  court  holding  that  the  connivance 
of  the  police  did  not  affect  the  punishable  character  of 
the  landlord’s  offence.12 

Regulation  applied  to  bordells  or  quasi-bordells  aims 
to  govern  their  location,  the  number,  age  and  medical 
inspection  of  inmates,  the  sale  of  liquor,  the  money  rela- 
tions of  mistress  and  girls,  the  maintenance  of  order,  and 
the  extent  to  which  inmates  are  privileged  to  appear  on 
the  streets.  We  shall,  for  the  present,  omit  everything 
pertaining  to  the  sanitary  side,  which  will  be  discussed  in 
the  next  chapter.  On  other  points,  the  stipulations  are 
usually  of  a quite  obvious  character.  The  maximum 
number  of  inmates,  an  accurate  roll  of  whom  must  be 
kept,  may  not  exceed  the  police  allowance;  minors  may 
not  be  employed  as  servants ; schoolboys  are  not  to  be  ad" 
mitted;  police  officers  are  to  have  entrance  at  all  times. 
In  Vienna,  bordell  women  are  not  allowed  to  seek  patron? 
on  the  street;  the  keepers  are  forbidden  to  sell  liquor 
or  to  provide  music.13  The  proprietress  in  Paris  is  spe- 
cifically warned  of  the  precarious  tenure  of  her  privilege, 
which  will  be  terminated  in  case  of  abuse,  scandal,  or 
infraction  of  the  regulations;14  she  is  also  pledged  to 
enforce  police  regulations  respecting  the  hours  during 
which  inmates,  being  registered  women,  may  patrol  the 
streets,  and  to  give  prompt  information  to  inspectors  re- 
garding unusual  occurrences.15  Inmates  are  forbidden 

12Adele  Schreiber  in  I)ie  Kritische  Tribune  I,  p.  114. 

13  Baumgarten  in  Zeitschrift  IX,  p.  174. 

14Lepine  in  Annexes,  loc.  cit.,  p.  20.  For  a much  more  ex-* 
haustive  account,  however,  see,  in  the  same  volume,  the  Report  of  M. 
iMeunier,  pp.  289-467,  especially  pp.  418-430. 

15  Prefecture  de  Police,  Service  des  Moeurs,  Reglement  II  (Mais- 
ons  de  Tolerance),  p.  6. 

170 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

to  solicit  at  windows ; 16  no  attempt  is  made  to  regulate 
the  sale  of  alcohol  or  to  prevent  exploitation;  nor  can  an 
inmate  decline  to  put  herself  at  the  disposal  of  any  cus- 
tomer who  selects  her,  whatever  his  condition.17  At 
Hamburg  the  authorities  are  theoretically  concerned  to 
prohibit  exploitation.  On  the  second  page  of  the  health 
record  book,  given  to  every  inmate,  the  following  an- 
nouncement is  printed : “ Should  the  ‘ landlady  ’ 18  en- 

deavor to  detain  an  inmate  on  the  ground  of  debts  or 
loans,  the  girl  is  to  make  a complaint  to  the  physician 
who  conducts  the  medical  examination,  in  case  she  cannot 
report  to  headquarters.”  It  is  further  provided  that 
women  must  promptly  notify  the  police  of  change  of  res- 
idence or  of  absence  from  town,  permanent  or  tran- 
sient; that  they  must  not  live  or  spend  the  night  in  any 
house  not  approved  by  the  police,  consort  with  minors, 
appear  at  doors  or  windows,  or  be  found  anywhere  but  in 
their  dwellings  from  n p.  m.  to  6 a.  m.  The  Vienna 
stipulations  concern  themselves  particularly  with  the 
prevention  of  exploitation.  Personal  inspection  on  the 
part  of  the  district  officer  quarterly,  on  the  part  of  the 
central  authorities  semi-annually,  is  required.  The  in- 
spection concerns  itself  with  the  physical  condition  of  the 
bordell,  with  its  business  conduct,  and  other  possible 
subjects  of  complaint.19  The  Budapest  regulations  aim 
mainly  to  obstruct  exploitation  and  to  procure  a measure 

16  Obligations  et  Defenses  imposees  aux  iilles  publiques. 

17  Meunier  quotes  the  Prefect  of  Police  as  follows : “In  a house 
of  ill-fame  a woman  is  unable  to  refuse  any  man  who  presents  him- 
self.” Loc.  cit.,  p.  420. 

18  “ Zimmervermieterin.”  This  word  keeps  up  the  fiction  that  the 
establishment  is  a boarding-house,  not  a bordell. 

19  Regulations,  Section  16. 

171 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  personal  freedom.  It  is  explicitly  stated  that  not  less 
than  one- fourth  of  the  girl’s  earnings  must  belong  to 
her  and  that  the  keeper  may  under  no  circumstances  in- 
volve her  in  debt  for  either  necessaries  or  luxuries ; that 
she  must  be  allowed  to  walk  abroad  “ independently  and 
alone  ” during  at  least  three  hours  a day,  and  an  ex- 
tra half  day  once  a week;  finally,  no  hindrance  must 
be  placed  in  the  way  of  her  going  to  church.20  The 
Brussels  regulation  — to  take  one  more  example  — ap- 
plicable to  tolerated  houses  provides  that  no  married 
woman  shall  be  permitted  to  open  such  an  establishment 
without  her  husband’s  consent ; 21  that  such  houses  must 
not  be  located  in  busy  streets  or  in  proximity  to  schools, 
public  buildings,  or  “ edifices  consecrated  to  worship  ” ; 22 
“ that  there  must  be  no  common  hall  or  room  for  the 
sale  of  liquor;23  that  an  inventory  of  the  girl’s  pos- 
sessions be  made  in  duplicate  on  her  entrance,  to  the 
end  that  she  may  know  what  she  is  entitled  to  on  leav- 
ing.24 

The  following  table  portrays  the  present  European  sit- 
uation in  respect  to  the  existence  of  bordells  or  quasi- 
bordells, — their  number,  location,  number  of  inmates  in 
connection  with  the  number  of  inscribed  prostitutes,  and 
the  estimated  number  of  non-inscribed  prostitutes;  it  in- 
cludes only  those  cities  which  I myself  visited. 

20  A German  translation  of  the  Budapest  regulations  is  given  in 
Zeitschrift  XII,  pp.  437,  etc.  For  the  provisions  above  cited,  see 
pp.  439,  440. 

21  Reglement  sur  la  Prostitution  (1904),  Section  19. 

22  Ibid.  Section  21. 

23  Ibid . Section  25. 

24  Ibid . Section  33. 


172 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 


* A, 

73 

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xj  aa 

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to 

««  0 
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0 

0 a 

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0 o-a.S  0* 

V 

& 

M 

& 

S3 

Paris 

...47 

Scattered 

387 

6,000 

Vienna  . . . 

...  6 

Scattered 

50-60 

1,630 

Hamburg 

...113 

On  8 
scattered 

780 

155 

streets 

Budapest  . 

...  13 

Scattered 

260-300 

2,000 

Few 

Dresden  . 

...81 

On  32 
different 

29325 

streets 

Frankfort 

...  10 

Scattered 

100 

188 

(about) 

Cologne  26 

...  98 

Scattered 

194 

500 

Geneva  . . , 

....  1 7 

Scattered 

86 

None 

Rome  .... 

Scattered 

125 

100 

Brussels  . . 

...  6 

Scattered 

37 

145 

Stuttgart  , 

10 

Scattered 

22 

None 

Bremen  . 

One  street 

75 

None 

Stockholm 

..  30 

On  6 
scattered 
streets  29 

98 

228 

Ink 


-4-»  TT 

« o a 

a-'sS 

— «5  3 

W 

50,000-60,000 

30,000 


6,000 


27 


Over  5,000 
known  to 
police 
Over  3,000 
known  to 
police 


Other  towns  make  the  same  kind  of  showing : 


30 


City  Population  No.  of  Bordells  No.  of  inmates 

Augsburg  89,770  3 12 

Fiirth  54,882  4 16 

Reichenbach  28,498  2 7 

Worms  28,624  2 14-16 


25  A few  live  scattered,  namely,  those  on  probation. 

26  Mitteilungen  der  Deutschen  Gesellschaft,  etc.,  VII.  p.  2. 

27  Polizeikommissar  Rump,  Ibid.,  p.  3. 

28  Several  years  ago  the  police  began  to  compile  statistics  which 
soon  reached  1,000,  “ und  die  lange  nicht  alle,”  the  Inspector  re- 
marked. 

29  In  1904,  of  these  thirty  houses  the  number  on  each  of  these 
streets  were  as  follows:  3,  4,  4,  7,  11,  1. 

30  The  figures  are  taken  from  Frau  Scheven’s  D'enkschrift. 

r73 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

A careful  study  of  the  data  above  given  discloses  a 
number  of  important  points.  In  the  first  place,  omis- 
sions are  significant.  The  bordell  is  altogether  non-ex- 
istent in  certain  countries,  and  has  been  suppressed  in 
many  large  cities,  though  other  towns  in  the  same  coun- 
tries still  permit  its  existence.  In  Germany,  for  ex- 
ample, Berlin  and  Munich  have  no  bordells  such  as  are 
found  elsewhere  in  Germany.  But  the  most  striking 
fact  is  the  insignificance  of  the  number  of  bordell  in- 
mates as  compared  with  the  number  of  professional  pros- 
titutes. The  number  is  on  its  face  too  small  to  play  any 
part  in  the  management  of  the  general  problem.  Indeed, 
it  is  trifling  even  as  compared  with  the  number  of  in- 
scribed prostitutes,  except  in  the  few  towns  that  actually 
or  practically  limit  inscription  to  bordell  inmates.31  The 
vast  majority  of  prostitutes  live  untouched  by  police  con- 
trol; the  vast  majority  of  the  inscribed  prostitutes  in 
Europe  live  scattered,  not  in  houses  of  prostitution. 
Some  40,000  prostitutes  in  Paris  are  wholly  free  of  police 
control;  of  the  6,000  registered  women  of  the  city,  5,575 
live  with  police  consent  as  individuals  here,  there,  and 
everywhere;  the  remaining  387  live  in  forty  bordells 
situated  in  almost  as  many  different  streets.  Of  1,689 
women  inscribed  in  Vienna,  1,630  live  where  they  please, 
the  regulations  expressly  stating : “ In  so  far  as  a pros- 

titute possesses  a dwelling-place  not  shared  by  other  pros- 
titutes, she  is  not  to  be  restricted  in  her  choice  of  a lo- 
cation any  more  than  is  absolutely  necessary;”32  the 
remainder,  something  between  50  and  60,  occupy  six  bor- 

31 E.  g.,  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Stuttgart. 

32  Reglement,  Section  12.  She  must  only  avoid  the  vicinity  of 
schools,  public  buildings,  and  churches. 

174 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

dells  located  in  different  sections  of  the  city;  less  than 
one-third  of  Stockholm’s  registered  prostitutes  are  quar- 
tered in  its  scattered  bordells,  and  the  registered  prosti- 
tutes are  as  everywhere  else  but  a fraction  of  the  whole 
number.  The  limitation  of  inscription  to  bordell  inmates 
at  Stuttgart  and  Bremen  is  of  course  a step  on  the  way 
to  complete  abandonment  of  regulation.  Only  rarely 
do  even  the  police  put  forward  a more  favorable  inter- 
pretation, as,  e.  g.,  in  Geneva,  where,  with  86  women  in- 
terned in  bordells,  I was  gravely  assured  that  not  above 
forty  non-inscribed  women  strolled  the  streets.  In  com- 
pany with  an  English  physician,  I counted  twenty  unmis- 
takable women  between  the  acts  at  the  Kursaal  that 
evening;  at  midnight,  standing  at  a corner  of  the  Place 
des  Alpes,  we  observed  forty  more  in  the  course  of  a few 
minutes. 

The  table  above  given  disposes  once  and  for  all  of 
“ segregation.”  Segregation  in  the  sense  of  an  attempt 
to  confine  the  prostitutes  of  a city  or  even  the  majority 
of  them  to  a single  locality  or  even  to  a few  definite 
localities  is  not  undertaken  in  any  European  city  from 
Budapest  to  Glasgow.  Waiving  all  objections  and  as- 
suming plenary  and  summary  police  power  such  as  ex- 
ists, it  is  obviously  easier  to  inscribe  them  than  to  con- 
fine them.  If,  as  is  the  case,  they  cannot  be  caught  and 
inscribed,  how  are  they  to  be  caught  and  segregated? 
European  cities,  having  universally  failed  in  the  attempt 
to  inscribe  prostitution,  necessarily  refrain  from  any  en- 
deavor to  segregate  any  considerable  part  of  it.  Nay, 
more,  no  European  city  succeeds  even  so  far  as  to  con- 
fine to  bordells  or  bordell  quarters  even  the  inscribed  part 

175 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  the  prostitute  army  which  has  been  expressly  ordered 
to  stay  there.  “ They  do  not  succeed  in  Hamburg,  Niirn- 
berg,  Altona,  Mainz,  and  Leipzig,  in  confining  prostitutes 
to  houses  or  to  a row  of  streets.  Even  inscribed  prosti- 
tution breaks  away  from  the  streets  and  the  houses  to 
which  it  is  directed  by  the  police,”  33 — a police,  be  it 
added,  with  summary  power  to  have  its  way.  1 

Segregation  is  therefore  impracticable;  more  than 
this,  any  attempt  to  bring  it  about  is  also  recognized  to  be 
inadvisable.  In  the  first  place,  the  impossibility  of  thor- 
oughness creates  an  obvious  opportunity  for  police  cor- 
ruption; a woman  who  objects  to  being  segregated  may 
for  an  adequate  consideration  induce  the  police  to  over- 
look her;  and  as  hundreds  are  bound  to  be  overlooked 
anyway,  the  chances  of  detecting  fraud  are  slender. 
Again,  a segregated  quarter  would  give  to  vice  the  great- 
est possible  prominence.  Finally,  it  would  expose  to 
moral  contagion  those  who  are  already  most  imperilled 
and  whom  every  consideration  of  interest  and  decency 
should  impel  society  to  protect  — the  children  of  the 
poor.  For  the  segregated  quarter  will  inevitably  be  lo- 
cated where  rents  are  low  and  where  the  neighbors  have 
least  influence.  Objection  to  bordells  on  the  part  of  those 
living  in  the  vicinity  is,  moreover,  becoming  increasingly 
louder : “ Urgent  requests  on  the  part  of  the  public  for 
the  closing  of  the  houses  are  becoming  more  frequent,” 
says  the  head  of  the  morals  police  of  Budapest  in  his  last 

33  Kampffmeyer,  in  Zeitschrift  III,  215.  The  article  is  an  ex- 
haustive study  of  the  living  conditions  of  prostitution  in  Germany 
and  completely  sustains  the  position  taken  in  the  text, — that  the 
most  arbitrary  police  procedure  is  incapable  of  segregating  prosti- 
tution, if  segregation  is  construed  as  in  the  text. 

176 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

report.  A few  months  ago,  the  police  of  Frankfort  en- 
deavored to  placate  neighborhood  sentiment  by  ordering 
the  transfer  of  certain  scattered  bordells  to  a single  street 
adjoining  the  railroad.  A storm  of  public  indignation 
led  to  the  speedy  abandonment  of  the  proposal,  although 
fifteen  houses  had  already  been  bought  on  speculation  for 
the  purpose.34 

To  what  is  said  above  as  to  the  non-existence  of  segre- 
gation in  Europe,  Hamburg  and  Bremen  are  sometimes 
said  to  be  exceptions ; not  infrequently  they  are  described 
as  having  segregated  prostitution.  Such  is  not  the  case. 
In  both  these  cities  inscribed  prostitution  is  — as  every- 
where else  — limited,  and  decreasing  in  relative  im- 
portance. In  Hamburg  the  bordells  forced  into  exist- 
ence by  the  police  are  found,  not  in  a segregated  quarter, 
but  in  at  least  eight  different  streets  scattered  through 
the  town;  and  six  of  the  eight  streets  contain  houses  in 
which  prostitutes  do  not  reside  and  are  not  permitted  to 
reside.  But  the  case  is  less  favorable  to  segregation 
than  even  the  foregoing  statement  represents;  for  not 
even  all  inscribed  prostitutes  live  on  the  eight  streets  in 
question ; and  the  non-inscribed  do  in  Hamburg  what  they 
do  everywhere  else, — quarter  themselves  wherever  they 
can. 

Nor  is  the  example  of  Bremen  any  more  favorable  to 

34  An  account  of  the  public  meeting,  which  I was  fortunate 
enough  to  attend,  is  given  in  Die  Kritische  Tribune,  I,  io,  in  two 
articles:  Adele  Schreiber.  “ Zur  Prostitutions — und  Kasernier - 
ungsjrage ; Henrietta  Fiirth,  “ Bordellstrasse?  ” The  same  situ- 
ation has  just  arisen  in  Hamburg.  The  progress  of  the  city  makes 
it  necessary  to  raze  certain  of  the  houses  mentioned  in  the  text. 
There  is  vigorous  opposition  to  the  proposal  to  allow  the  proprietors 
to  locate  themselves  elsewhere. 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  feasibility  of  segregation.  There  the  entire  registered 
list  is  indeed  confined  to  one  street, — Helenenstrasse ; 
but  the  separation  of  seventy-five  women  or  less  in  a 
seaport  town  in  which  hundreds  of  prostitutes  live  scat- 
tered through  the  city  is  assuredly  not  “ segregation.” 
Nor  was  Helenenstrasse  itself  a deliberate  move  towards 
segregation.  A contractor  had  built  up  the  street  with 
twenty-six  little  apartment  houses  as  a speculation  in 
1878, — the  year  of  a panic  in  the  building  trade.  Fac- 
ing ruin,  as  the  houses  could  not  be  rented,  he  accepted 
the  chance  suggestion  of  a police  official  that  the  rooms 
be  let  to  prostitutes.  The  historian  of  the  incident 
writes:  “ Since  that  time, — more  than  thirty  years  — 

notwithstanding  many  efforts,  this  step  has  never  been 
repeated.  As  every  inhabitant  knows,  only  a fraction  of 
the  prostitution  of  Bremen  utilizes  this  street, — alto- 
gether insufficient  for  the  existing  volume  of  the 
traffic.” 35  Helenenstrasse  is  therefore  perhaps  the 
strongest  argument  in  Europe  against  the  feasibility  of 
the  policy  in  support  of  which  it  is  mistakenly  cited. 

In  passing,  it  is  interesting  and  significant  to  observe 
that  the  impracticability  of  effective  segregation  is  not 
new.  Medieval  regulation  ordered  the  prostitute  into  a 
bordell  or  forced  her  to  wear  a costume  which  pro- 
claimed her  occupation.  The  bordells  were  preferably  lo- 
cated on  the  periphery  of  the  town  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
city  gate,  i.  e.,  in  what  purported  to  be  a segregated  dis- 
trict. Now,  medieval  prostitution  was  indeed  character- 
istically a bordell  prostitution : a hamlet  of  from  two  to 
four  hundred  inhabitants  had  its  bordell ; and  the  number 

35  Mitieilungen  der  deutschen  Gesellschaft,  etc .,  VII,  I,  p.  7. 

178 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

of  licensed  bordells  kept  pace  with  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation. We  may  be  sure  that,  having  undertaken  to  force 
prostitution  into  bordells,  and  having  undertaken  to  force 
bordells  into  a localized  quarter,  medieval  authority  was 
none  too  tenderly  or  cautiously  applied;  fear  of  error  did 
not  paralyze  the  official  arm.  Yet  the  policy  failed! 
The  researches  of  Bloch  leave  absolutely  no  doubt  on 
this  point.36  “ Despite  the  fact  that  municipal  author- 
ities endeavor'ed  to  confine  prostitution  to  municipally 
controlled  and  administered  bordells  and  legislated  se- 
verely against  prostitutes  living  elsewhere,  nevertheless 
the  number  of  scattered  prostitutes  was  very  large, — 
perhaps  larger  than  of  those  living  in  houses.  In  con- 
trast with  the  bordell  women,  they  were  called  clandes- 
tine,— but  this  does  not  mean  that  there  was  the  least 
doubt  as  to  their  trade.”  37  At  times  the  clandestines  — 
in  the  sense  here  indicated  — lived  on  the  very  streets  on 
which  bordells  were  situated,  yet  refused  to  be  coerced 
into  them ; again,  they  lodged  — sometimes  several  to- 
gether — with  a landlady  who  operated  a brothel  which 
the  authorities  were  unable  to  change  into  a controlled 
bordell.  A policy  that  failed  in  the  relatively  small  med- 
ieval town,  where  it  encountered  no  hostile  sentiment  and 
could  ride  rough-shod  over  personal  privilege,  can  hardly 
be  successfully  carried  out  in  a modern  metropolis,  in  the 
face  of  strong  ethical  objection  and  exaggerated  sensi- 
tiveness at  any  invasion  of  individual  liberty, — not  to 
mention  the  complications  created  by  mere  quantitative 
increase. 

If  the  table  — to  which  we  now  return  — is  examined 

30  Die  Prostitution,  Vol.  I,  pp.  731-791. 

179 


37  Ibid.,  p.  780. 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

from  an  historic  point  of  view,  it  becomes  clear  that  the 
bordell  is  rapidly  losing  ground.  The  bordell  is  at  this 
date  illegal  in  Great  Britain,  Switzerland  (except  Ge- 
neva), Holland,  Denmark,  Norway,  and  the  German  Em- 
pire, though  in  many  German  towns,  as  I have  pointed 
out,  a subterfuge  exists;  in  almost  all  these  countries  it 
was  once  an  acknowledged  institution.  In  towns  in 
which  its  existence  does  not  violate  law,  it  is  rapidly  dis- 
appearing, even  though  in  some  places  the  authorities 
favor  its  maintenance  and  extension.  Neither  Paris, 
Vienna,  Stuttgart,  nor  Frankfort  will  authorize  the  open- 
ing of  a new  bordell;  they  all  look  forward  to  a time  in 
the  near  future  when  those  still  surviving  will  succumb 
to  adverse  sentiment  and  decreasing  receipts, — the 
causes  of  which  I shall  shortly  explain.  Hamburg,  where 
the  police  still  strongly  favor  the  bordell  and  utilize  all 
their  tremendous  power  in  its  favor,  has  seen  the  total 
number  of  inmates  decrease  from  1,050  in  1876  to  780 
in  1910, — despite  the  doubling  of  population  in  the 
same  period;  three  houses  authorized  to  contain  12 
girls  apiece  were  found  to  harbor  2,  3,  and  6 respec- 
tively. Budapest,38  like  Hamburg,  prefers  the  bordell, 
and  once  maintained  from  50  to  60  bordells,  with  600  to 
700  women;  only  13,  with  250  inmates,  survive,  despite 
the  encouraging  attitude  of  the  authorities.  The  most 
elaborate  establishment  in  the  city,  authorized  to  receive 
21  girls,  had  at  the  date  of  my  visit  only  7.  In  Brussels 
there  were  7 bordells,  containing  66  women,  in  1890;  six 
houses,  with  37  inmates,  in  1910.39  But  most  striking 

38  This  was  also  formerly  true  of  Vienna,  where  the  regulations 
of  1900  favored  bordells,  but  failed  to  increase  their  number. 

39  Other  Belgian  towns  show  the  same  conditions : Antwerp  had 

180 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

of  all  are  the  Paris  records : with  235  bordells,  containing 
1,450  women  in  1841  (population  1,200,000),  as  recently 
as  1888  there  were  69  tolerated  houses,  with  772  inmates; 
in  1903  there  remained  47  houses,  with  387  inmates:40 
population  had  meanwhile  increased  to  2,800,000.  At 
the  last  named  date,  6,031  inscribed  women  were  living 
in  scattered  lodgings.  The  following  table  exhibits  the 
relation  between  inscribed  prostitutes  living  in  lodgings 
and  those  interned  in  the  bordells  of  Paris : 


Living  in  Living 

Year  Enrolled  bordells  scattered 

1872  4,242  1,126  3,n6 

1882  2,839  1, 1 16  1,723 

1892  5,004  596  4,408 

1903  6,418  387  6,031 


The  rest  of  France  shows  the  same  development  in  prog- 
ress: Amiens  had  13  houses  of  prostitution  in  1880 

none  in  1895;  Havre  34  in  1875,  9 in  1895;  75  bordells 
in  Lyons  in  1840  shrank  to  17  in  1895 ; 125  in  Marseilles 
in  1873  were  reduced  to  12  in  1899;  31  in  Nantes  (1855) 
to  12  in  1896;  60  at  Bordeaux  (1869)  to  16  in  1906.41 
At  Rome,  the  22  authorized  houses  were  said  at  the  time 
of  my  visit  to  contain  some  125  inmates;  none  had  its 
full  authorized  complement:  a huge  establishment,  with 
a capacity  of  18,  had  5 inmates;  another,  with  capacity  of 
12,  had  7;  others,  authorized  to  harbor  10  women,  con- 
tained 4,  5,  and  6 respectively.42 

29  houses  in  1882,  3 in  1885 ; Liege  33  in  1881,  20  in  1895 ; Charleroi 
10  in  1872,  3 in  1895. 

40  Fiaux,  Police  des  Moeurs,  I,  p.  211.  Also  Vol.  II,  pp.  907-8; 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  664. 

41  Felix  Regnault,  L3 'Evolution  de  la  Prostitution  (Paris,  1907)  p. 

142. 

42  Von  During  ( Zeitschrift  IV,  p.  113)  quotes  Strohmberg  as 
stating  that  the  same  evolution  is  in  progress  at  St.  Petersburg, 

l8l 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

The  causes  responsible  for  the  decay  of  the  bordell 
will  explain  why  the  bordell  cannot  be  re-introduced, 
even  though  it  were  an  efficacious  device  for  the  main- 
tenance of  public  order  and  decency  and  for  the  diminu- 
tion of  disease, — points  that  still  remain  to  be  discussed. 
The  bordell  prospered  as  long  as  its  management  was  un- 
controlled; its  decay  set  in  the  moment  public  sentiment 
required  the  slightest  deference  to  the  dictates  of  hu- 
manity. For,  in  the  first  place,  the  bordell  can  be  ten- 
anted only  through  the  exertions  of  the  trafficker.  A 
few  hopeless  wretches,  whose  independent  career  is  over, 
may  of  their  own  accord  seek  its  food  and  shelter;  but 
these  are  precisely  the  women  whom  the  management  ac- 
cepts only  under  pressure  of  necessity.  Young  and  at- 
tractive inmates  are  desired, — innocent,  or,  at  least,  be- 
ginners. Prior  to  their  suppression  in  Zurich,  60% 
of  the  inmates  of  its  18  bordells  had  not  completed  their 
seventeenth  year ! 43  The  fact  that  there  are  more  bor- 
dells in  Hamburg  than  experience  elsewhere  would  lead 
us  to  expect  may  be  due  not  only  to  police  preference,  but 
to  the  fact  that  inscribed  minors  are  permitted  — per- 
haps even  forced  — to  enter  them.  Now  these  eagerly 
desired  youthful  recruits  are  procurable  as  a rule  only 
through  traffickers;  the  bordell  therefore  prospers  only 
where  trafficking  prospers.  In  the  heyday  of  this  in- 
famous business,  victims  were  brought  into  the  large 
European  cities  by  every  species  of  fraud  and  imposition, 

where  206  bordells  in  1879  decreased  to  65  in  1888.  Similarly, 
Baumgarten  ( Zeitschrift  IX,  pp  174-5)  states  that  Prague,  which  had 
in  1903,  48  bordells  with  220  inmates,  has  (1908)  26,  with  100  in- 
mates. 

±zjDie  Prostitutionsfrage  in  der  Schweiz  (Zurich,  1913)  p.  10, 

18s: 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

only  to  find  themselves  imprisoned  in  bordells  until  thor- 
oughly broken  to  the  trade.  Thus  the  houses  of  Paris 
were  filled  with  girls  enticed  from  their  homes  in  the  de- 
partments of  the  Somme  and  the  Rhone,  or  Paris  itself ; 
the  bordells  of  Vienna  and  Budapest  with  victims  from 
Posen  and  Galicia.  The  local  traffic  in  young  girls,  as  I 
have  already  explained,  has  now  been  largely  broken  up ; 
the  European  police,  responding  to  the  quick  and  vig- 
orous development  of  humane  interest  characteristic  of  re- 
cent years,  have  taken  steps  which  practically  deprive  the 
bordell  of  youth, — its  most  attractive  asset.  Girls  under 
21  are  as  a rule  no  longer  permitted  to  become  inmates ; at 
Budapest  even  the  bordell  servant  must  have  reached  the 
age  of  forty.  The  mistress  whose  memory  goes  back  to 
a less  scrupulous  era  is  in  no  doubt  as  to  the  main  causes 
of  the  hard  times  on  which  her  lot  has  now  fallen: 
“ Something  young  and  fresh  is  nowadays  no  longer  to 
be  had/’ 44  remarked  the  candid  madame  of  a Budapest 
bordell. 

An  outside  proof  that  the  bordell  is  necessarily  as- 
sociated with  trafficking  in  girls  may  not  be  amiss  in  this 
connection.  The  trafficker,  avoiding  the  aroused  con- 
tinental police,  seeks  a remote  and  less  perilous  market. 
The  great  European  cities,  in  which  he  can  no  longer 
carry  on  with  impunity  a trade  in  young  or  innocent  girls, 
can  at  the  most  be  utilized  as  way  stations  on  the  journey 
to  Rio  Janeiro  or  Buenos  Aires;  in  the  latter  city,  192 
well-known  bordells,  with  1,022  inmates  of  different 
nationalities,  are  found;  95  of  them  Russian  establish- 
ments with  532  girls,  17  Italian  establishments  with  92 

44“Etwas  junges  und  frisches  ist  iiberhaupt  nicht  zu  kriegen.” 

183 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

inmates,  22  French  houses  with  136  girls.45  The  victims 
whose  obscure  trail  is  traceable  from  Galicia  through 
Vienna  and  Berlin  to  Hamburg,  Rotterdam,  or  London, 
are  nowadays  discovered  in  the  brothels  of  a South 
American  city,  instead  of  in  those  of  Hamburg,  Brussels, 
or  Paris. 

Meanwhile,  though  the  European  bordell  can  no 
longer  be  recruited  with  the  young,  the  trafficker’s 
business  has  not  been  completely  stamped  out ; nor  can  it 
be  until  the  last  recognized  bordell  is  exterminated.  The 
reduced  scope  within  which  madarne  and  trafficker  op- 
erate makes  it  all  the  more  important  to  do  the  best  pos- 
sible under  the  circumstances, — to  make  as  attractive  a 
showing  as  possible  and  to  keep  the  women  moving: 
hence,  redoubled  efforts  to  fill  orders  for  women  of  the 
various  types  required  by  the  different  establishments 
and  to  conduct  a chain  of  houses  so  that  a certain  amount 
of  novelty  can  be  introduced  into  the  trade.  An  inspec- 
tion of  police  records  discloses  the  fact  that  women  re- 
main on  the  average  only  a few  weeks  in  a given  house. 
Through  the  13  bordells  of  Teplitz-Schdnau,  Bohemia, 
between  January  1,  1909  and  July  30,  1910,  550  inmates 
passed  : one  of  the  bordells,  operating  with  two  girls,  had 
65  different  inmates  during  this  period  of  18  months.46 
In  the  Zurich  bordells,  85%  of  the  inmates  changed 
within  5 months,  63%  within  2 months.47  In  the  white 
slave  bureau  of  one  large  European  police  establishment, 
I was  shown  a huge  list  of  persons  suspected  or  already 
convicted  of  trafficking  in  girls.  The  traffic  in  youth  has 

45  For  these  figures  I am  indebted  to  official  courtesy. 

46  Meher,  loc.  cit.,  p.  150. 

47  Prostitutionsfrage  in  der  Schweiz,  p.  11. 

184 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

been  hampered ; but  a traffic  in  women  still  remains  — a 
traffic  which,  though  it  will  not  restore  prosperity  to  the 
bordell,  is  absolutely  dependent  for  its  existence  on  the 
prolonged  life  of  the  house  of  prostitution.  I have  re- 
peatedly quoted  with  respect  the  words  of  Dr.  Baum- 
garten  of  Vienna;  on  this  point,  his  opinion  is  absolutely 
unmistakable : “ The  bordell  is  inseparable  from  the 

traffic  in  girls/’  he  declared  to  me.  Bloch’s  investiga- 
tions are  tersely  summarized : “ Without  bordells,  no 

white  slave  traffic.”  48 

A notorious  instance  of  the  manner  in  which  alone  a 
bordell  can  be  successfully  conducted  is  furnished  by  the 
so-called  “ Riehl  case  ” uncovered  in  Vienna  in  1906. 
The  woman  conducted  an  establishment  containing  20 
girls  and  paid  an  annual  rental  of  10,000  kronen 
($2,000).  A large  number  of  persons  were  employed  to 
procure  recruits, — old  women  and  young  boys,  offering 
good  places  in  domestic  service  to  young  girls  who,  hav- 
ing come  to  Vienna,  found  difficulty  in  securing  work. 
Employment  agencies  directed  to  Madame  Riehl  young 
and  friendless  applicants.  Suspicion  was  never  aroused 
in  the  victim’s  mind,  for  the  door  bore  a plate  marked 
“ Riehl’s  Dressmaking  Salon.”  The  behavior  of  the 
madame  varied : now,  she  made  no  concealment  of  the 
nature  of  her  business  ; again,  she  hired  the  newcomer  as 
a servant,  certain  that  before  long  she  would  yield  to  the 
demoralization  of  the  place.  Minors  were  registered  at 
police  headquarters  as  of  full  age,  or  forged  documents 
testified  to  the  consent  of  the  parents  or  guardians.  The 
girls  lived  as  prisoners,  so  cowed  by  the  treatment  they 

48  “ Ohne  Bordelle,  kein  Madchenhandel  * Bloch,  Sexualleben,  p. 
377- 

185 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

received  and  so  utterly  demoralized  by  their  way  of  life 
that  they  made  no  effort  to  recover  their  freedom  even 
if  opportunity  offered.49 

The  conscience  of  those  authorities  who  are  still  will- 
ing to  tolerate  bordells,  provided  girls  are  not  involun- 
tarily forced  into  them,  has  revolted  on  another  point, 
viz.,  the  exploitation  of  the  women  by  the  keepers.  For 
the  bordell  is  a business.  Though  theoretically  only  a 
convenient  place  for  the  gratification  of  uncontrollable 
desire,  it  is  practically  an  establishment  so  conducted  as 
to  fill  the  pockets  of  the  owners,  the  inmates  being  forced 
to  receive  the  maximum  number  of  guests  that  can  be  ob- 
tained, after  which  they  are  victimized  out  of  their  earn- 
ings on  every  conceivable  pretext.50 

Recent  alterations  in  the  police  regulations  seek  to  pro- 
tect the  bordell  women  against  exploitation ; but  no 
amount  of  menace  or  oversight  suffices  to  procure  the  en- 
forcement of  the  simplest  precautionary  regulations. 
One  of  the  most  disgusting  aspects  of  bordell  life  is  the 
forced  consumption  of  alcohol ; the  customer  on  entering 
is  plied  with  drink,  and  of  course  the  inmates  share ; con- 
viviality is  procured  by  general  and  continuous  indulgence 
in  beer,  wine,  and  champagne.  In  order  to  prevent  com- 
plete physical  disorganization  on  the  part  of  the  women 
and  to  restrict  the  commerce  in  volume,  the  sale  or  use 
of  liquor  is  forbidden  in  the  bordells  of  Brussels,  Al- 
tona,  Hamburg,  Stuttgart,  Bremen,  and  other  cities.  But 
it  goes  on  openly  and  flagrantly,  nevertheless.  An  Al- 

49  Schneider,  loc.  tit.,  pp.  171-2. 

50  See  p.  257.  For  a detailed  account  of  the  exploitation  of  in- 
mates in  Paris,  see  Fiaux,  Les  Maisons  de  Tolerance  (Third  Edition, 
Paris,  1896)  Chapter  VII. 


186 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

tona  madame  candidly  admitted  to  me  the  reason : “ The 

business  couldn’t  be  carried  on  otherwise.”  51  In  the 
bordells  of  Stockholm,  champagne  costing  crowns 
a bottle  is  sold  to  guests  for  15  and  the  “ girls  are  made 
to  aid  in  the  consumption  as  much  as  possible,  so  as  to 
increase  the  profits.”  52 

The  fact  is  that  if  the  police  wish  or  are  willing  to 
maintain  bordells,  they  cannot  refuse  to  tolerate  some  of 
the  conditions  on  which  alone  it  is  worth  while  for  the 
keepers  to  conduct  them.  In  Vienna,  Budapest,  Dresden, 
and  elsewhere,  minute  specifications  attempt  to  regulate 
the  charges  which  may  be  levied  on  the  girls  by  the 
keepers.  But  the  girl  is  completely  exploited  neverthe- 
less: for  exorbitant  prices  are  charged  for  necessities, 
and  extras  — forbidden  or  not  - — usually  swallow  the  re- 
mainder. In  the  most  wretched  establishments  of  Ah 
tona,  the  minimum  charge  for  board  and  lodging  is 
reckoned  at  75  marks  a week ; at  Stockholm,  a girl  pays  5 
crowns  a day  for  board, — and  various  sums  for  “ ex- 
tras,”— an  “ unreasonable  sum,”  53  in  Johansson’s  judg- 
ment. The  Dresden  police  name  8 to  1 5 marks  a day  — 
the  latter  sum  itself  enough  to  procure  accommodations 
at  a first-rate  hotel;  the  girl  is  actually  charged  15  to  18, 
and  if  anything  is  left  to  her  credit  it  is  absorbed  by  way 
of  paying  for  cosmetics,  clothes,  shoes,  etc.  The  kind 
landlady  is  the  intermediary  between  girls  and  merchants 
in  a series  of  transactions  which  somehow  always  leave 
the  girls  penniless  and  amply  reimburse  the  landlady  for 
her  intervention.  Frau  Scheven  related  to  me  the  story 

B1“Ohne  Trinken  ging  es  nicht.” 

52  Linblad  in  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  65. 

53  Report , Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  176. 

187 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  a young  girl  for  whom  she  had  procured  admission  to 
a hospital,  where  in  the  course  of  her  recovery  the  girl 
decided  to  abandon  her  licentious  life.  When  her  bene- 
factress applied  to  the  bordell  for  her  clothes,  she  was  in- 
formed that  there  were  none ; and  only  threats  of  calling 
the  police  extorted  a few  meager  rags  — the  sole  asset 
after  months  of  service,  despite  the  minute  prescriptions 
of  the  authorities,  aiming  to  check  the  rapacity  of  the 
keepers. 

At  Vienna  a more  serious  effort  in  this  direction  is 
now  made.  A periodical  survey  by  the  ranking  officials 
of  the  morals  bureau  is  required, — the  director  him- 
self as  a rule  being  one  of  the  party.  I possess  tran- 
scripts of  two  reports  made  on  a Vienna  bordell.  The  in- 
specting party  included  the  division  chief,  the  head  of  the 
medical  service,  and  one  or  two  others  of  lower  rank. 
The  roll  was  called  and  every  inmate  accounted  for; 
thereupon  the  inmates  were  separately  interviewed,  es- 
pecially with  a view  to  ascertaining  whether  their  per- 
sonal freedom  had  been  interfered  with  or  whether  they 
had  complaints  to  make  in  respect  to  exploitation.  On 
the  first  inspection,  the  women  unanimously  declared  and 
proved,  that  despite  the  prospect  of  this  official  review, 
they  had  been  swindled  out  of  all  their  earnings,  even 
including  such  incidental  gratuities  as  they  had  received 
from  visitors ; that  their  food  was  inedible,  and  that  bed- 
linen  was  changed  only  once  a month.  The  authorities 
thereupon  threatened  the  closing  of  the  establishment  un- 
less conditions  were  at  once  improved.  Revised  regula- 
tions became  effective  before  the  next  inspection,  at  which 
time  it  appeared  that  each  inmate  paid  something  over 

1 88 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

five  dollars  a day  for  board  and  lodging  (26  kronen), 
beyond  which  their  earnings  belonged  to  them;  the  earn- 
ings of  the  preceding  night  ran  from  $10  (50  kronen)  to 
$30  (150  kronen)  apiece.  The  food  had  improved  in 
quality,  but  the  condition  of  the  linen  and  towels  still 
left  much  to  be  desired.  Three  of  the  inmates  were 
badly  bruised.  The  keeper  was  again  warned  that  san- 
itary conditions  must  be  improved.  To  hinder  the  crass- 
est exploitation  and  to  secure  the  most  elemental  cleanli- 
ness, the  highest  officials, — physicians  and  jurists  of  uni- 
versity training  — had  to  make  a personal  inspection; 
even  then,  6 brothels,  containing  from  50  to  60  women, 
could  not  be  kept  entirely  acceptable.  Were  brothels 
more  numerous  in  Vienna,  it  would  be  absolutely  im- 
possible to  utilize  officers  of  high  rank  and  spotless  per- 
sonal and  professional  character  for  this  sordid  duty;  if 
delegated  to  others,  a source  of  corruption  and  abuse 
would  be  created.  Hence,  though  rules  against  exploita- 
tion and  in  favor  of  decency  are  promulgated,  success- 
ful efforts  to  enforce  them  are  practically  nowhere  en- 
countered. 

Though  its  heyday  is  over,  the  bordell  can,  however, 
still  be  made  to  pay,  if  the  authorities  are  disposed  to  con- 
done exploitation.  At  the  bare  suggestion  that  a new 
bordell  street  would  be  created  in  Frankfort,  15  houses 
in  the  proposed  street  were  promptly  bought  up  at  ex- 
travagant prices ; 54  the  houses  in  Helenenstrasse,  Bremen, 
valued  at  327,000  marks,  cost  their  present  owner  585,- 
000  marks ; 55  a tumbledown  medieval  hovel,  long  util- 

54  Kritische  Tribune,  loc.  cit.,  p.  114. 

55  Schneider,  loc.  cit.,  p.  168. 

189 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ized  as  a bordell  in  Stuttgart,  was  recently  sold  for  60,- 
ooo  marks  to  a “ dummy  ” purchaser.  Shortly  after 
the  transaction,  the  police,  heeding  neighborhood  com- 
plaints, decreed  the  closing  of  the  establishment;  where- 
upon they  w~ere  bitterly  reproached  for  summary  viola- 
tion of  an  implied  contract.56  Paris  transactions  are 
naturally  on  a far  higher  scale:  200,000  and  300,000 
francs  have  changed  hands  for  a single  business.57  An- 
other establishment  earned  70,000  francs  for  its  owners 
in  a single  year.  Like  all  profitable  enterprise  in  this 
generation,  efficiency  and  economy  have  been  still  more 
highly  developed  through  organization;  of  31  immoral  re- 
sorts “ situated  in  the  zone  of  the  Champs-Elysees,  near 
the  Arc,  the  majority  belong  to  the  same  managers.”  58 

Fortunately  other  causes  conspire  with  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  white  slave  traffic  and  increased  control  over 
the  internal  management  of  the  bordell  to  bring  about  its 
decline.  Taste  has  changed.  “ The  public  has  lost  its 
appetite  for  officially  designated  resorts,  with  their  large 
numbers,  closed  shutters,  colored  windows,  visited  nowa- 
days usually  by  strangers,  provincials,  and  soldiers;  the 
trade  inclines  rather  to  houses  of  rendezvous,  where 
greater  discretion  is  practised  and  where,  with  a little 
imagination,  one  is  conscious  of  an  air  of  adventure.”  59 
The  women,  too,  are  filled  with  the  desire  to  enjoy  their 
own  freedom.  They  prefer  the  reckless  abandon  of  the 

56  “ The  renter  of  these  buildings  charges  the  inscribed  prosti- 
tute 8 to  10  marks  a day  for  a room  so  that  the  owner  gets  from 
each  inmate  something  like  4,000  marks  a year.”  Bendig  in 
Zeitschrift  XII,  pp.  11,  12.  (Abridged.) 

57  Annexes,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  424-5.  See  also  Fiaux,  Police  des 
Moeurs,  I,  213-217. 

68  Fiaux,  Ibid,  p.  220. 

89  Lepine  in  Annexes , loc , cit.,  p.  21. 

190 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

streets,  the  cafes,  and  the  theaters.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, the  girls  who  are  still  found  in  bordells  are  as  a 
rule  the  failures  and  the  wrecks,  with  too  little  spirit  or 
attractiveness  to  make  an  independent  success. 

In  accounting  for  the  decline  of  the  bordell,  I have  in- 
evitably touched  on  the  objections  to  be  urged  against 
its  further  tolerance.  The  European  bordell  has  in  the 
first  place  declined  because  its  recruitment  through  young 
victims  has  been  largely  broken  up,  and  because  the  most 
flagrant  forms  of  exploitation  no  longer  prevail  entirely 
unhindered.  But  other  equally  good  reasons  for  the 
suppression  of  the  bordell  may  be  cited.  The  bordell  is 
a veritable  school  of  abnormality.  The  Paris  bordells 
are  elaborately  equipped  for  every  conceivable  form  of 
perverse  indulgence.  The  inmates  compete  with  one  an- 
other in  forcing  upon  the  youthful  customer  the  knowl- 
edge of  unnatural  and  artificial  forms  of  sexual  gratifi- 
cation.60 Similar  excesses  are  practised  elsewhere, — in- 
deed wherever  the  bordell  is  found.  The  Swedish 
women  told  Dr.  Lindblad  that  “ the  girl-house  is  the  main 
seat  of  perversity;  soon,”  they  added,  “ Stockholm  will  be 
as  bad  as  Paris.” 61  The  infamous  implements  em- 
ployed are  in  full  view  as  one  enters  the  apartments  in 
Helenenstrasse.  The  degradation  of  the  bordell  inmate 
is  total ; 62  her  rehabilitation  well-nigh  impossible.  She 
fares  far  worse  than  the  street-walker,  who  sometimes  re- 
turns to  an  orderly  manner  of  life. 

Finally,  cautious  as  the  keeper  may  be  not  to  deserve 

60  See  Fiaux  Maisons  de  T olerance,  Chapter  X,  etc. 

61  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  III,  p.  66. 

62  See  Meunier’s  detailed  account  in  Annexes,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  420, 
etc. 


I91 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  suspicion  of  the  police,  the  bordells,  especially  those  of 
lower  grade,  are  everywhere  in  close  touch  with  certain 
classes  of  criminals.  Between  the  lowest  class  of  crim- 
inals and  the  corresponding  class  of  prostitutes  intimate 
relations  subsist.63  To  the  low  class  resort  the  law- 
breaker betakes  himself;  there  the  outlaw  receives  sym- 
pathy and  shelter.  It  is  occasionally  alleged  that  the 
reverse  is  true:  that  the  bordell  keepers  turn  the  law- 
breaker over  to  the  police,  assisting  the  authorities  in 
discovering  criminals.  But  the  Dutch  police,  who  have 
tried  and  discarded  the  bordell  system  and  who,  like 
other  police  with  the  same  experience,  would  under  no 
conditions  countenance  its  reintroduction,  are  of  a dif- 
ferent mind.  “ Did  the  bordell  keepers  assist  you  in 
the  detection  of  criminals  ? ” I asked.  “ Oh,  yes/’  was 
the  reply,  “ after  they  realized  that  we  already  knew.” 

So  much  for  the  inner  side  of  the  bordell;  it  re- 
mains to  inquire  into  its  influence  on  external  order. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  bordell,  by  providing  an  ascer- 
tainable, if  not  well  known,  resort  for  immoral  women 
and  their  customers  removes  scandal  and  suggestion  from 
the  public  highways.  Let  us  consider  the  argument  in 
the  light  of  the  table  already  given.  The  bordell  can 
at  most  interfere  with  the  promenading  and  soliciting 
of  the  women  interned  in  it;  it  cannot  reduce  the  prom- 
inence of  non-inscribed  women,  or  of  inscribed  women 
living  at  large  and  expressly  authorized  by  the  police 
to  walk  all  but  a few  streets.  The  existence  of  47  bor- 
dells, with  387  inmates,  in  Paris  does  not  interfere  with 

63  See  Moll,  loc.  cit.,  p.  366 : Ostwald,  Schlupfwinkel  der  Prostitu- 
tion in  Das  Berliner  Dirnentum,  Vol.  II. 


192 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

the  promenading  of  perhaps  50,000  unregistered  prosti- 
tutes or  of  6,000  registered,  but  scattered,  prostitutes; 
the  existence  at  Brussels  of  six  brothels,  with  37  inmates, 
does  not  restrain  145  other  registered  prostitutes,  resi- 
dent elsewhere,  nor  the  several  thousand  non-registered 
women  who  live  where  they  please.  The  facts  thus  show 
that  the  pressure  on  the  streets  is  nowhere  relieved  by  the 
herding  of  a few  women  — and  the  herding  of  more 
is  impracticable.  Between  Paris  and  Berlin  there  is  no 
difference  observable : the  former  has  bordells,  the  latter 
lacks  them.  The  streets  of  Hamburg  with  bordells 
are  no  better  than  those  of  Rotterdam  without  them, 
and  are  distinctly  inferior  to  those  of  Liverpool  and 
Amsterdam,  both  without  them.  Zurich  without  bor- 
dells is  externally  much  more  orderly  than  Geneva 
with  them.  If  the  bordell  played  any  part  in  the  main- 
tenance of  decent  street  conditions,  cities  like  Berlin, 
Munich,  and  Zurich  — where  there  are  no  bordells  — 
would  be  worse  off  than  Paris,  Hamburg,  or  Stuttgart; 
or  the  former  would  require  some  extraordinary  agency 
not  needed  where  bordells  exist;  as  a matter  of  fact, 
the  cities  in  question  are  not  worse  and  they  neither  re- 
quire nor  possess  any  unusual  machinery. 

What  can  be  more  clearly  decisive  on  this  point  than 
the  fact  that  just  at  the  time  of  my  visit  to  Geneva,  the 
chief  of  the  department  of  justice  and  police,  in  conse- 
quence of  “ frequent  complaints,  named  a special  com- 
mittee charged  with  the  duty  of  devising  means  to  put 
an  end  ” 64  to  the  sort  of  vagabondage  we  are  consider- 

64  Tribune  de  Geneve, . March  30,  1912.  See  also  A.  Guillot,  La 
Lutte  contre  V Exploitation  et  la  Reglementation  du  Vice  a Genhre 
(Geneva,  1899)  pp.  13&-9. 

*93 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ing?  As  a matter  of  fact,  coincidentally  with  the  grad- 
ual extinction  of  the  bordell,  general  street  conditions 
have  improved  throughout  Europe;  and  the  few  towns 
whose  streets  are  strikingly  free  from  prostitutes  are 
without  exception  towns  in  which  neither  regulation  nor 
the  bordell  exists.  The  bordell  is  not  the  controlling 
factor;  police,  courts,  public  opinion  decide;  and  po- 
lice, courts,  and  public  opinion  are  likely  to  be  most 
vigorously  in  favor  of  clean  streets  in  communities 
that  do  not  recognize  prostitution  as  a legitimate  liveli- 
hood. 

But,  more:  the  bordell  does  not  necessarily  or  usually 
remove  its  own  inmates  from  the  streets!  The  women 
cannot  be  caged;  current  tendency  is  in  just  the  reverse 
direction.  The  Budapest  authorities,  for  example,  re- 
gard with  horror  the  “ inhumanity  ” of  the  Bremen  re- 
strictions. Bordell  women  are  becoming  more  and  more 
free  to  come  and  go  as  they  please ; on  other  terms  they 
are  increasingly  reluctant  to  enter  the  bordell  at  all. 
Moreover,  when  business  lags  — as  indeed  it  tends  to 
— they  go  forth  to  find  patrons  on  the  streets, — for 
grist  must  be  provided  for  the  ever  active  mill.  At 
Dresden,  the  courteous  official  who  escorted  me  through 
the  bordells,  explained  that  it  would  be  useless  to  start 
on  our  round  of  visits  before  midnight, — for  the  women 
would  all  be  “ out.”  I walked  through  several  of  the 
3 2 streets  on  which  bordells  exist  in  the  earlier  hours 
of  the  evening;  from  some  houses  the  inmates  were  just 
emerging  in  striking  costumes,  to  others  women  were 
already  returning,  accompanied  by  the  prey  picked  up  on 
the  streets,  in  the  cafes,  and  elsewhere.  The  bordell 

194 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

does  not,  therefore,  reduce  street  scandal  even  to  the 
extent  of  the  number  of  its  inmates. 

Meanwhile,  though  the  bordell  does  not  relieve  the 
general  thoroughfares,  it  tends  strongly  to  local  scandal 
and  disorder  in  its  own  quarter.  The  eight  bordell 
streets  of  Hamburg  lie  for  the  most  part  close  to  busy 
streets  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  Except  in  the  forenoon, 
when  the  women  are  sleeping  off  the  dissipation  of  the 
previous  night,  shocking  scenes  are  observed.  The  pe- 
destrian who  in  the  afternoon  inadvertently  stumbles 
into  the  Schwiegergasse  is  greeted  from  window,  vesti- 
bule, and  doorstep  by  a volley  of  invitations;  scantily 
clad  women  solicit  his  attention  from  the  street  door 
in  broad  daylight.  The  dark  narrow  passages  in 
Cologne,  notorious  for  brothels,  are  filled  with  a pro- 
cession of  reckless  boys  and  half-intoxicated  men  on 
the  verge  of  surrender  to  temptation.  A beating  rain 
did  not  empty  the  bordell  streets  of  Altona,  or  drive 
indoors  the  lightly  clad  women  who  called  out  the  su- 
perior attractions  of  their  competing  establishments;  at 
Bremen,  in  the  summer  evening,  the  interned  women 
forbidden  to  solicit  on  the  street,  approached  all  pass- 
ersby  and  endeavored  in  every  imaginable  way  to  entice 
them  into  their  barracks, — “ just  for  a glass  of  beer/’ 
if  nothing  else.  A recent  writer,  describing  conditions 
in  Frankfort,  remarks  that  “the  presence  of  the  police- 
man does  not  hinder  even  unmistakable  and  utterly 
shameless  prostitution  of  minors  in  the  Rosengasse  and 
Metzgergasse,”  65 — two  olf  the  streets  in  which  bordells 
are  found.  In  a few  instances  only, — Budapest  and 

65  Mitteilungen,  etc.,  X,  5 p.  96. 

195 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

Rome,  for  example,  I encountered  no  street  disorder  in 
the  vicinity  of  recognized  houses  of  prostitution. 

From  the  preceding  account,  it  is  clear  that  the  case 
for  regulation  on  the  side  of  public  order  is  not  strength- 
ened by  the  bordell.  Not  infrequently,  however,  it  is 
argued  that,  whatever  be  the  situation  in  inland  towns, 
the  seaport  has  reasons  of  its  own  for  requiring  the 
existence  of  bordells ; without  it,  drunken  sailors  of 
many  nationalities  will  throng  the  highways,  insulting 
women  and  imperilling  children.  This  kind  of  argu- 
ment is  not  new;  I was  told  by  a high  official  in  Paris 
that  no  woman  was  safe  from  insult  in  the  streets  of 
Zurich,  now  that  the  bordells  had  been  suppressed.  Both 
statements  are  equally  without  basis.  Rotterdam  is  well- 
nigh  as  important  a seaport  as  Hamburg;  its  streets  suf- 
fer nothing  by  comparison;  the  streets  of  Liverpool  are 
at  the  moment  the  cleanest  of  all.  Once  more,  the  bor- 
dell is,  to  say  the  best  for  it,  immaterial. 

Nor  can  it  even  be  claimed  for  the  bordell  that  it 
lessens  other  forms  of  prostitution.  Side  by  side  with 
it  flourish  the  “ Animierkneipe,”  advertising  “ weekly 
change  of  service,”  the  cabaret,  dance  hall,  cafe,  cheap 
lodging-house,  the  concealed  bordell,  the  rendezvous , the 
maison  de  passe , — all  engaged,  as  the  bordell  is  en- 
gaged, not  in  satisfying  normal  desire,  but  in  arousing, 
inflaming,  and  perverting  lust,  while  at  the  same  time 
thrusting  upon  the  victim’s  attention  accessible  means  for 
its  gratification.  Rome  possesses  besides  20-odd  au- 
thorized bordells,  235  — perhaps  more  — ■ unauthorized 
houses  of  prostitution,  well  known  to  the  police.  I was 
escorted  by  an  officer  to  houses  of  both  types  and  ob- 

196 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

served  no  difference  beyond  a somewhat  greater  nerv- 
ousness on  the  part  of  the  keepers  of  the  latter;  Geneva 
abounds  in  irregular  lodging-houses  and  maisons  de 
passe , lists  of  which  have  been  even  furnished  by  anti- 
regulationists  to  the  police,  without  result;  Amsterdam 
reports  that  it  had  more  clandestine  brothels  during  the 
time  when  bordells  were  licensed  than  are  to  be  found 
now  that  they  have  been  suppressed.  At  Paris,  with 
bordells  — as  in  London,  without  them  — every  im- 
aginable subterfuge  is  employed  in  the  effort  to  carry 
on  surreptitious  prostitution : chambers  are  advertised, 
foreign  language  lessons  announced,  art  objects,  pearls, 
dressmaking,  massage,  bibelots  employed  as  baits  for  the 
curious.66  The  bordell  does  not  really  affect  this  situa- 
tion at  all. 

Discovering,  however,  that  bordell  prostitution  is  dis- 
appearing, the  police  of  Paris  and  Budapest  are  endeav- 
oring to  maintain  their  grip  by  authorizing  or  permitting 
rendezvous  establishments.  At  Paris,  these  establish- 
ments may  be  opened  without  police  permit  and  will 
not  be  disturbed  as  long  as  they  comply  with  a few  sim- 
ple police  orders,  e.  g.,  admitting  only  inscribed  women 
or  at  least  women  regularly  examined  by  a physician 
agreeable  to  the  police.67  They  have  increased  in  num- 
ber from  64,  with  235  women  regularly  in  attendance, 
in  1900,  to  243,  with  770  women  attached,  in  1908.68 
A somewhat  similar  policy  is  pursued  in  Budapest,  where 

66  See,  for  example,  Annexes,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  433-435. 

67  A detailed  account  of  the  terms  is  given  by  M.  Lepine  in  An- 
nexes loc.  cit.  pp.  22-24.  M.  Paul  Meunier  (Ibid,  428-430)  dis- 
cusses these  houses  and  gives  particulars  concerning  a raid  on  one 
of  them  in  which  he  himself  took  part. 

68Fiaux,  Police  des  Moeurs,  III,  p.  664. 

197 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  police  tolerate  without  interference  the  “ hotel  garni  ” 
with  20  to  50  rooms,  which  admits  only  inscribed  women 
on  showing  their  certificates,  sells  no  alcoholic  beverages, 
provides  every  room  with  water,  towels,  etc.,  and  allows 
no  guest  to  remain  longer  than  twelve  hours ; these  hotels 
are  regularly  visited  and  inspected  by  the  authorities. 
Similarly,  the  maison  de  passe  is  recognized, — usually 
an  apartment  of  five  to  eight  rooms,  where  towards  six 
in  the  evening  one  finds  5 to  10  girls  seated  around  the 
dining-room  table,  sewing  or  rouging  while  waiting  for 
customers  to  drop  in.  But  these  substitutes  for  the  bor- 
dell  are  as  futile  as  the  bordell  itself ; police  recognition 
of  authorized  places  of  rendezvous  does  not  diminish 
in  any  wise  the  number  of  hotels  surreptitiously  utilized 
for  the  same  purpose.  In  Budapest,  despite  the  vigorous 
police  policy,  there  are  as  many  unauthorized  hotels  en- 
gaged in  the  business  as  there  have  ever  been;  and 
Paris  is  notorious  for  the  abundance  of  uncontrolled 
resorts.  The  explanation  is  easy.  Neither  the  girl  nor 
her  customer  desires  to  submit  to  the  stigma  and  notori- 
ety involved  in  resorting  to  an  authorized  house  of  any 
kind ; the  same  motive  that  leads  them  to  avoid  the  bor- 
dell leads  them  to  evade  the  authorized  rendezvous.  In 
any  event,  only  controlled  women  can  resort  to  a con- 
trolled establishment;  uncontrolled  establishments  con- 
tinue to  command  the  trade  of  non-inscribed  women, — 
who  always  and  everywhere  enormously  preponderate. 

Could  the  futility  and  impossibility  of  regulation  be 
more  clearly  exhibited?  The  police  of  Paris,  Budapest, 
and  Vienna  offer  the  woman  every  facility  for  the  easy 
and  unimpeded  prosecution  of  her  trade,  provided  only 

198 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

she  will  submit  to  inscription:  bordells,  if  she  pleases; 
a private  lodging,  if  she  prefers;  or,  if  neither  of  these 
is  agreeable,  hotels  discreetly  conducted  in  accessible 
localities,  where  the  police  will  never  trouble  her  or  her 
customers.  In  return,  the  authorities  ask  only  that  she 
register  her  name,  nominally  submit  to  a few  restrictions, 
and  undergo  medical  examination  at  intervals.  Yet  not 
even  on  these  favorable  terms  can  a considerable  body 
of  women  be  induced  to  submit.  Meanwhile,  whatever 
may  be  said  for  the  bordell  as  a possible  way  of  removing 
prostitutes  from  the  street,  the  rendezvous  house,  now 
cultivated  to  take  its  place,  operates  in  the  directly  con- 
trary fashion;  for  the  couples  resorting  to  it  generally 
meet  and  strike  their  bargains  in  the  streets. 

There  is  perhaps  another  point  of  view  from  which 
the  bordell  must  be  considered.  Whatever  opinion  one 
may  form  as  to  the  ultimate  fate  of  prostitution  in  civ- 
ilized society,  unquestionably  it  must,  like  certain  other 
social  evils,  be  reckoned  with  as  a phenomenon  to  be 
dealt  with  as  part  of  the  day’s  work.  I have  pointed 
out  that  European  opinion  is  moving  towards  the  conclu- 
sion that,  for  the  present,  third  party  exploitation,  overt 
and  offensive  manifestation,  are  aspects  with  which 
our  social  and  governmental  instrumentalities  are  most 
likely  to  cope  effectively.  The  pimp,  the  bordell  keeper, 
the  prostitute  herself  — when  her  conduct  scandalizes  — 
with  these  the  ordinary  resources  of  a well-managed 
municipality  are  increasingly  competent  to  deal.  Clearly, 
however,  we  are  thus  left  with  the  prostitute  herself 
on  our  hands, — with  the  prostitute,  I mean,  who  is 
vicious,  not  criminal,  leading  her  own  life,  reprehensible 

I99 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  course,  but  without  unnecessary  offence  to  others.  In 
reference  to  this  type  of  woman  — the  type,  in  other 
words,  that  survives  even  a successful  war  on  third  part- 
ies — the  first  question  that  arises  is  this : where  shall 
she  live?  For  even  the  inconspicuous  and  well-behaved 
prostitute  is  a peril,  inasmuch  as  she  is  a constant  and 
inevitable  source  of  moral  contagion, — particularly  ob- 
jectionable, of  course,  in  close  contact  with  children  and 
working-girls.  The  bordell  represents  one  effort  to 
solve  the  domicile  problem,  by  isolation,  just  as  infectious 
disease  is  isolated.  The  analogy  to  disease  fails,  how- 
ever, for  two  reasons:  first,  because  isolation  is  usually 
resisted  by  the  prostitute ; second,  because  the  prominence 
that  vice  obtains  through  bordells  — be  they  many  or 
few  — far  outweighs  any  good  attainable  through  the 
forced  isolation  of  those  who  can  be  interned.  Other 
positive  efforts  to  regulate  the  domicile  of  the  prostitute 
have  also  been  made, — so  far,  without  success.  The 
German  law,  as  I have  already  stated,  forbids  the  pro- 
fessional prostitute  any  lodging  at  all;  but  the  law  has 
broken  down,  first,  because  the  vagrant  prostitute  is 
most  objectionable  of  all;  second,  because  the  statute  is 
enforced  only  in  flagrant  cases  of  abuse;  third,  because 
it  is  in  conflict  with  the  regulation  system  in  common 
use. 

Budapest  approaches  the  problem  differently.  There 
bordells  house  a fair  number;  the  rest  are  free  to  live 
where  they  please,  provided  they  give  no  offence.  Au- 
thorized places  of  rendezvous  are  provided  as  above 
stated,  in  the  hope  that  women  will  thus  be  induced  to 
transact  business  elsewhere  than  in  their  homes.  In  the 


200 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

event,  however,  that  a woman  persists  in  bringing  cus- 
tomers to  her  apartment,  decent  tenants  are  in  position 
to  protect  themselves  through  the  following  enactment: 
“ Any  tenant  has  the  right  to  forbid  a prostitute  to  con- 
tinue to  occupy  rooms  in  the  house  where  he  lives,  if, 
before  he  himself  moved  in,  he  was  not  told  that  prosti- 
tutes live  in  the  same  house;  should  prostitutes  move  in 
subsequently,  the  tenant  may  dislodge  them  by  complain- 
ing to  the  police.  No  tenant  need  endure  the  presence 
of  prostitutes  in  the  building  where  he  resides;  no  tenant 
can  be  obligated  to  remain  in  a house  where  prostitutes 
live  unless  he  knew  the  fact  when  he  made  his  lease. 
The  landlord  is  obligated  to  tell  prospective  tenants  the 
truth  without  being  asked.  If  the  landlord  on  the  ten- 
ant’s demand  does  not  evict  a prostitute,  the  tenant  may 
break  the  lease  and  demand  damages.  These  provisions 
apply  also  to  apartments  used  for  rendezvous ?’ 69 

How  far  this  excellent  law  has  affected  the  situation  it 
is  difficult  to  tell.  Its  enforcement  against  non-regis- 
tered  women  is  difficult,  to  say  the  least.  Besides,  the 
poor  can  easily  be  quieted  by  favors  or  concessions.  I 
was  therefore  not  surprised  to  see  children  playing  in 
the  courtyard  and  on  the  steps  of  houses  in  Budapest 
to  which  prostitutes  could  be  observed  to  be  returning 
in  the  company  of  men;  prominent  rendezvous  apart- 
ments were  visited  in  large  buildings  tenanted  mainly 
by  families  of  the  working-class.  Neither  regulation  in 
general  nor  the  bordell  in  particular  has  thus  succeeded 
in  solving  the  dwelling  problem.  This  has  been  frankly 
recognized  in  the  revised  Vienna  regulations  which  aban- 

69  Dwelling  and  Rent  Statute , Section  6. 

201 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

don  all  effort  to  deal  with  the  question;  paragraph  12, 
previously  quoted,  enjoining  the  least  possible  interfer- 
ence with  the  free  choice  of  a dwelling  place  on  the  part, 
of  a prostitute  who  lives  alone.70 

I have  throughout  this  chapter  considered  the  bordell 
mainly  as  a factor  in  the  program  of  regulation.  It  is 
from  the  standpoint  of  order  evidently  futile.  But  from 
another  standpoint  it  is  worse  than  futile.  The  bordell 
gives  to  sexual  vice  its  most  prominent  advertisement. 
By  working  on  the  curiosity  of  the  young  and  of  stran- 
gers — its  main  patrons,  by  the  way  — it  substantially 
increases  demand;  by  requiring  constant  service  of  its 
inmates,  it  virtually  increases  supply.  It  is  therefore 
absolutely  at  war  with  sound  public  policy  which  aims 
to  reduce  both  — certainly  to  avoid  their  gratuitous  in- 
crease. Finally,  the  bordell  is  the  most  flagrant  instance 
of  exploitation  for  the  benefit  of  third  parties,  which  mod- 
ern feeling  and  legislation  are  emphatically  determined  to 
prevent.  For  the  keeper’s  profit  men  waste  their  sub- 

70  The  only  exhaustive  statistical  study  of  the  living  problem  that 
I found  is  that  made  by  Johansson  for  the  Swedish  Commission 
( Report , Vol  III,  pp.  175,  etc.)  and  this  deals  only  with  the  reg- 
istered women,  relatively  few  in  number.  Johansson  divides  the 
400  inscribed  women  of  Stockholm  into  5 groups  as  follows : 


I Living  in  lodgings  where  they  receive  customers 16 

II  Living  in  girl-houses 98 

III  Living  in  families  and  utilizing  hotels  232 

IV  Living  in  suburbs  and  utilizing  hotels 23 

V Vagrants 31 


Of  course  a girl  does  not  permanently  belong  to  any  one  group, 
but  may  vary  from  time  to  time.  Group  III  is  most  important.  At 
the  close  of  1904,  the  police  had  listed  34  hotels  with  405  rooms, 
utilized  by  these  women.  He  states  that  the  hotel  is  conducted 
“like  a factory,”  the  women  being  practically  in  the  employ  of  the 
proprietors.  That  is,  the  enrolled  women  are  operated  for  third- 
party  profit less  than  4%  of  them  work  for  themselves. 

202 


Regulation  and  Order  — Bordells 

stance  and  are  — to  what  extent  the  ensuing  chapter  will 
tell  — infected  with  disease ; while  women  are  dragged 
down  to  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation  and  excess. 
The  bordell  is  therefore  something  more  than  futile, 
something  more  than  inhuman.71 

71  It  is  often  said  that  this  opinion  is  held  only  by  sentimentalists 
and  religious  persons.  As  a matter  of  fact,  it  is  the  conclusion  of 
police  officers  all  over  the  Continent,  many  of  whom  are  still 
administering  the  system.  Prominent  among  these  is  Baumgarten 
of  Vienna,  for  whose  views  see  Zeitschrift  IX,  pp.  183-4.  The  lit- 
erature attacking  the  bordell  in  a strictly  scientific  spirit  is  enormous. 
See  Bloch,  Sexualleben.  Index,  “ Bordelle.”  For  a view  favor- 
able to  the  bordell,  see  G.  Roscher,  Gross-Stadtpolizei  (Ham- 
burg, 1912)  pp.  257-8.  Dr.  Roscher  is  the  able  and  accomplished 
head  of  the  Hamburg  police. 


203 


CHAPTER  VII 


REGULATION  AND  DISEASE 

Regulation  nowadays  concerned  chiefly  with  sanitation. — Variety 
of  methods  employed. — Berlin  system. — 'Equipment  and  procedure. 
— Equipment  in  Paris,  Vienna,  Brussels,  etc. — Quality  of  medical 
inspection  in  Berlin, — in  Budapest, — in  other  cities, — in  Paris. — 
Effect  of  medical  inspection  on  male  indulgence. — Peculiar  char- 
acteristics of  syphilis, — of  gonorrhoea. — Amount  of  disease  de- 
tected among  inscribed  women. — Clinical  methods  inaccurate. — De- 
ceptions practised. — Flux  in  inspected  body. — Failures  to  report. — 
Periods  of  hospital  detention  brief. — Minors,  usually  non-inscribed, 
most  infectious. — Inspection  and  disease  among  clandestines. — Sys- 
tem conceded  to  have  accomplished  nothing  hitherto. — Its  possibili- 
ties remain  to  be  proved. — No  basis  for  favorable  expectation. — 
Insuperable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  successful  medical  regulation. 
— Does  isolation  of  even  a small  number  of  infected  women  achieve 
some  good? — Amount  of  disease  depends  on  amount  of  irregular 
intercourse. — The  bordell  and  disease. — Absurdity  of  linking  disease 
and  crime. — System  illogical  and  inequitable. 

The  preceding  chapters  have  presumably  shown  that 
regulation  is  not  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  public 
order ; indeed,  even  the  pretense  that  it  is  needed  for  that 
purpose  is  now  in  a fair  way  to  be  generally  discarded. 
As  I have  pointed  out,  the  traveler  is  rarely  aware  of 
differences  in  external  conditions  that  suggest  different 
police  methods  of  restraining  or  controlling  prostitution. 
Prostitution  may  be  described  as  perhaps  equally  promi- 
nent in  Berlin  and  London, — one  a regulated,  the  other  a 
non-regulated  city.  Regulation  is  therefore  not  a factor 
that,  from  this  point  of  view,  needs  to  be  taken  into  ac- 

204 


Regulation  and  Disease 

count.  Moreover,  as  we  shall  see  later,  the  few  cities 
in  which  the  underworld  is  distinctly  inconspicuous  are 
without  regulation.  For  the  rest,  cities  long  without 
regulation  and  cities  that  have  recently  dispensed  with  it 
are  at  least  as  quiet  as  those  that  still  adhere  to  it;  nay 
more,  to  find  a really  disorderly  section  one  must  resort 
to  the  bordell  quarters  of  regulated  towns.  As  far  as 
order  goes,  therefore,  it  is  impossible  to  make  out  a case 
favorable  to  regulation. 

As  the  argument  in  behalf  of  regulation  on  the  score  of 
public  decency  loses  force,  the  maintenance  of  the  system 
depends  more  and  more  on  the  assertion  of  its  sanitary  ef- 
ficacy; and  on  this  aspect  increasing  emphasis  is  laid.  A 
prominent  official  of  the  Berlin  morals  police,  tracing  the 
history  of  the  institution  for  me,  remarked : “The 

historical  function  of  the  Sittenpolizei  was  to  deal  with 
decency;  but  under  present  conditions  the  sanitary  ob- 
ject has  come  to  the  fore.  The  morals  police  could  be 
dispensed  with,  if  only  their  original  business  were  in 
question.  They  should  certainly  now  be  called  the 
health  police.”  The  recent  reconstruction  of  the  Vienna 
system  was  undertaken  in  execution  of  just  such  a pro- 
gram : “ Conversion  of  the  morals  police  control  into 

a sanitary  control,  and  its  extension  as  far  as  possible 
over  clandestine  prostitution/' ’ 1 The  main  effort  to  save 
regulation  through  readjustment  to  modern  knowledge 
has  thus  been  made  on  the  sanitary  side.  In  the  present 
chapter  I shall  endeavor  to  describe  regulation  as  a sani- 

1 Finger  and  Baumgarten,  Referat,  p.  82.  It  must  be  noted,  how- 
ever, that  this  health  function  is  lodged  with  the  police,  not  the 
health  authorities, — a fact  which  will  be  explained  in  the  next 
chapter. 


205 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tary  policy  and  to  determine  what  it  achieves  in  that  direc- 
tion. 

The  diversity  previously  commented  on  in  connection 
with  regulation  prevails  also  in  respect  to  its  sanitary 
details.  Between  the  worst  and  the  best  organized  sys- 
tems on  the  medical  side,  there  is  perhaps  an  even  greater 
discrepancy  than  between  the  worst  and  the  best  sys- 
tems on  the  side  of  police  methods.  Thus  far  experience 
has  worked  out  no  accepted  sanitary  model.  Important 
variations  will  be  noted  in  reference  to  the  method  of 
inspection,  its  quality,  its  frequency,  the  disposition  made 
of  disease  when  discovered,  the  payment  of  physicians, 
and  the  extent  to  which  free  choice  of  physicians  is  still 
allowed.2 

Berlin,  where  the  bureau  has  been  completely  reor- 
ganized in  recent  years,  may  serve  as  a point  of  de- 
parture. Women  under  control  are  required  to  report 
to  police  headquarters  for  examination  twice  weekly,  if 
under  24  years  of  age;  once  a week,  if  between  24  and  34 
years  of  age;  and  fortnightly,  if  over  34.  In  addition, 
the  inscribed  or  controlled  prostitute  is  re-examined 
whenever  arrested  for  any  offence,  regardless  of  the  date 
of  her  last  or  her  next  regular  examination.3  Clan- 
destine prostitutes  may  be  subjected  to  compulsory  ex- 
amination at  the  discretion  of  the  bureau  chief, — the 
examination  being  conducted  by  a woman  physician  at- 
tached to  the  division  for  this  purpose.4  By  special  re- 

2 In  respect  to  the  last  two  items,  a tendency  towards  a uniform 
policy  is  discernible. 

3 Inscribed  women  are  examined  by  men  physicians. 

4 That  is,  non-inscribed  prostitutes.  As  previously  pointed  out, 
“clandestine”  prostitutes  may  be  just  as  notorious  as  inscribed 
ones. 


206 


Regulation  and  Disease 

quest,  an  examination  by  an  approved  private  physician 
may  be  substituted.  In  either  event,  the  woman  is  her- 
self at  no  expense  for  the  examination. 

A staff  of  eight  police  physicians  and  four  micro- 
scopists  are  occupied  with  medical  inspection,  of  whom 
four  are  on  duty  at  one  time;  the  work  goes  on  daily, 
except  Sunday,5  from  nine  to  twelve  o’clock  and  from 
twelve  to  three.  The  examination  consists  of  a clinical 
inspection  and  the  use  of  the  speculum.  For  the  de- 
tection of  gonorrhoea,  microscopic  examinations  of  the 
secretions  are  made  fortnightly  in  case  of  women  under 
34;  monthly,  in  case  of  older  women.  At  any  time, 
however,  when  appearances  are  suspicious,  the  physician 
is  instructed  to  ask  for  a microscopic  examination  with- 
out waiting  for  the  regular  day.  Female  assistants  are 
provided  for  this  work;  the  word  of  the  assistant  is 
sufficient  in  case  the  microscopic  preparation  is  found  to 
be  negative;  the  physician  must  by  his  own  observation 
confirm  a positive  result.  The  medical  policy  of  the 
police  department  is  directed  by  a physician  who  holds 
the  rank  of  commissary, — the  sole  instance  in  all  Europe 
of  expert  medical  control  of  what  is  admittedly  a sani- 
tary matter.6 

Inscribed  women  discovered  to  be  infected  are  confined 
under  duress  in  a municipal  hospital,  on  the  theory  that, 
being  professional  prostitutes,  who  can  maintain  them- 
selves only  by  plying  their  business,  they  must  be  in- 

5 Inscribed  prostitutes  who  also  hold  positions  or  who  are  on 
probation  looking  to  release  from  the  rolls  may  by  special  ar- 
rangement come  on  Sunday  for  examination. 

6 The  present  incumbent  is  Dr.  Med.  Georg  Guth,  Kriminalkom- 
missar  und  medizinizch-technischer  Dezernent  in  der  Verwaltung 
der  Berliner  Sittenpolizei. 


207 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

temed  in  order  that  the  carrying  on  of  their  business  may 
be  temporarily  suspended.  In  very  rare  cases,  however, 
even  when  found  to  be  diseased,  they  are  permitted  to  re- 
tain their  freedom  provided  an  approved  physician 
makes  himself  responsible  for  their  systematic  treat- 
ment, and  provided,  further,  that  there  is  reliable  evi- 
dence to  show  the  possession  of  resources  which  will 
enable  the  women  in  question  to  keep  their  engagement 
to  refrain  from  plying  their  vocation  for  the  time  being. 
Women  are  also  at  times  released  from  the  hospital  on 
condition  that  they  report  at  intervals  for  further  treat- 
ment; should  this  understanding  be  violated,  they  are 
once  more  interned. 

Clandestine  and  occasional  prostitutes  if  found  dis- 
eased on  being  arrested  are  somewhat  differently  man- 
aged. If  without  resources,  they  are  sent  to  the  hos- 
pital ; but  the  bureau  chief  may,  in  his  discretion,  permit 
them  to  remain  at  large  on  condition  that  they  place 
themselves  in  charge  of  a competent  physician.  It  is, 
however,  admitted  that  pledges,  whether  given  by  clan- 
destine or  registered  women,  are  not  to  be  relied  on. 

At  both  hospital  and  police  headquarters  in  Berlin 
conscientious  and  intelligent  efforts  have  been  made  to 
provide  satisfactory  arrangements.  Registered  and  non- 
registered  women  are  scrupulously  separated  at  every 
stage,  on  the  ground  that  the  latter  group  may  contain 
young,  innocent  or,  at  least,  not  yet  hardened  persons, 
who  should  not  be  further  contaminated  by  the  careless- 
ness of  the  state.  Premises  not  adapted  to  this  end 
have,  therefore,  been  extensively  remodeled.  The  rooms 
utilized  for  the  medical  examinations  at  the  police  head- 

208 


Regulation  and  Disease 

quarters  are  light  and  equipped  with  a modern  examining- 
chair,  hot  and  cold  water,  and  electric  light;  the  micro- 
scopic-room has  the  necessary  equipment  for  clean  and 
accurate  work.7  The  hospital,  though  old  and  small, 
has  been  latterly  renovated  and  its  staff  reorganized. 
The  present  medical  chief  of  the  police  division  in  charge 
of  venereal  disease  is  a specialist  of  distinction,  who  has 
made  important  contributions  to  the  literature  of  the  sub- 
ject on  both  medical  and  sociological  sides.  The  division 
possesses  an  excellent  laboratory  manned  with  trained 
assistants;  and  it  is  properly  equipped  with  microscopes, 
culture-ovens,  animals  for  experimental  purposes,  etc. 
Patients  are  examined  separately  in  a clean,  well-lighted 
room,  containing  all  necessary  paraphernalia.  Women 
at  different  stages  of  demoralization, — registered,  non- 
registered,  first  offenders, — are  scrupulously  kept  apart ; 
clean  and  orderly  as  the  women  are  in  appearance,  there 
is  nothing  in  their  demeanor  or  surroundings  to  suggest 
prison  confinement.8 

In  many  other  towns,  two  examinations  per  week  for 
the  youngest  class  of  inscribed  prostitutes  are  also  re- 
quired ; but  by  no  means  everywhere.  In  Paris,  for  ex- 
ample, women  in  bordells  are  examined  weekly,  those  at 
large  at  least  fortnightly;  in  Dresden  examinations  take 
place  once  a week.  In  Hamburg,  women  under  “ light 
control  ” are  examined  only  once  a month,  and  even  for 
this  examination  a certificate  from  a private  physician 

7 Giith,  loc.  cit.,  p.  13,  gives  details  of  equipment. 

8 The  preceding  account  is  based  on  personal  inspection  and  in- 
terviews, on  the  leaflet  issued  by  the  bureau,  entitled  “ Dienstan- 
weisung  fur  die  bei  der  Sittenpolizei  beschdftigten  Aerzte,”  and  on 
Penzig’s  “Die  Bekdmpfung  der  Gewerbsunzucht  durch  die  Sitten- 
polizei” previously  referred  to. 

209 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

may  be  substituted;  the  same  is  true  in  Cologne,  where 
enrolled  women  discovered  to  be  diseased  are  permitted 
to  obtain  treatment  privately,  provided  they  keep  the 
police  informed  of  their  progress.9  At  Stockholm  most 
women  report  twice  a week;  some  thirty  older  women, 
once  a week. 

Examination  and  treatment  are  not  always  free.  Dres- 
den requires  every  inscribed  woman  to  contribute  to  a sick 
insurance  fund,  paying  four  marks  as  initiation  fee,  and 
two  and  a half  marks  weekly  dues;  she  is  thereby  en- 
titled to  13  weeks’  hospital  care  if  ill.10  A sick  fund, 
out  of  which  the  cost  of  the  weekly  examination  is  also 
paid,  is  similarly  supported  in  Hamburg;  in  Bremen, 
the  women  bear  the  expense  of  the  medical  inspection; 
Brussels  permits  examination  to  take  place  in  the  rooms 
of  the  women  on  payment  of  five  francs  monthly;  Stock- 
holm allows  a woman  to  appear  for  examination  pri- 
vately on  payment  of  a crown;  at  Stuttgart,  the  examina- 
tion is  free  at  police  headquarters,  paid  for,  if  at  home; 
in  Geneva,  the  girls  pay  two  francs  for  each  examina- 
tion; in  Rome  the  bordell  stands  the  expense,  and  also, 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  health  authorities,  selects 
the  physician.  In  Vienna,  girls  were  formerly  required 
to  pay  one  crown  if  examined  at  headquarters,  two 
crowns  if  examined  in  their  rooms;  but  since  January 
1912,  a system  of  free  examination  has  been  gradually 
introduced.  It  is  universally  conceded  that  abuses  creep 
in  wherever  the  physician  derives  his  income  in  whole 
or  in  part  from  the  women  or  the  bordells. 

9 This  was  the  practice  at  Budapest  also,  until  the  regulations 
were  reformed  in  1908. 

10  Schneider,  loc.  cit.,  p.  21,  gives  additional  instances. 

210 


Regulation  and  Disease 

Much  greater  and  more  significant  diversity  exists  in 
respect  to  the  equipment  of  the  examining- rooms  at  police 
headquarters  and  the  method  of  conducting  the  examina- 
tions. Facilities  as  good  as  those  of  Berlin  exist  only 
in  Dresden,  Bremen  and  Budapest.  In  the  last  named 
city,  twenty-two  physicians,  eight  of  whom  come  daily, 
are  employed.  Unlike  Vienna,  where  a physician  usually 
examines  the  same  woman  from  week  to  week,  the 
women  are  purposely  sent  to  different  physicians  for 
successive  examinations, — a policy  adopted  in  order 
the  better  to  prevent  deceit,  bargaining,  etc.  A bacteri- 
ologist is  on  hand  to  make  microscopic  tests  in  sus- 
picious cases. 

In  all  other  cities  the  appointments  are  meager  and 
antiquated,  conducing  to  mistaken  diagnosis,  on  the  part 
of  even  honest  physicians,  and  to  fraud,  on  the  part  of 
the  women.  In  Paris,  for  example,  bordell  women  are 
examined  in  their  own  quarters,  where  no  facilities  for 
good  work  can  possibly  exist,  where  imposition  is  easily 
practised  by  the  women,  and  where  the  environment  is 
apt  to  interfere  with  the  seriousness  of  the  occasion. 
Examinations  so  conducted  need  not  be  seriously  dis- 
cussed. Inscribed  Parisian  prostitutes  living  at  large  and 
non-inscribed  women  who  are  arrested,  are  examined  at 
police  headquarters,  where  the  equipment  consists  of  two 
rude  chairs,  an  ancient  sterilizer  in  which  a few  specula 
are  boiling,  and  a glass  of  sterilized  water  in  which  the 
spatulse  used  in  holding  down  the  tongue  are  hastily 
dipped  from  time  to  time.  Arrested  women  — whether 
registered,  clandestines,  or  mere  suspects  — are  huddled 
indiscriminately  with  all  other  varieties  of  female  of- 

211 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

fenders,  into  a dark  and  ill-ventilated  “ depot,”  not  in- 
aptly called  the  “ human  pound.” 

In  Vienna,  as  in  Paris,  the  medical  examination  is 
still  conducted  either  at  headquarters  or  at  the  dwellings 
of  the  women,  though  the  tendency  is  in  the  direction  of 
concentrating  work  at  the  former.  The  Viennese  ac- 
commodations and  facilities  are  distinctly  better  than 
those  of  Paris,  even  though  the  establishment  does  not 
yet  boast  a microscope.  At  Hamburg,  girls  arrested  are 
clinically  examined  at  headquarters ; inscribed  women  are 
examined  in  the  bordells, — a convenient  bordell  being 
selected  in  each  neighborhood, — but  beyond  a deal  table, 
and  the  spoon  and  speculum  which  each  girl  brings,  no 
equipment  whatever  is  provided. 

Elsewhere  facilities  answer  the  same  general  descrip- 
tion. In  Brussels  a plain  table  is  carried  into  the  re- 
ception room  of  the  bordell.  Rome  is  no  better ; in  one 
establishment,  on  asking  to  see  the  facilities  for  medical 
examination,  I was  shown  a filthy  old  metal  table  and 
a few  dirty  basins ; in  another,  a tattered  leather  chair ; 
in  a third,  a small  table. 

Of  hospitals  provided  for  the  reception  of  diseased 
women,  Budapest  possesses  perhaps  the  best  that  I vis- 
ited anywhere;  the  service  contains  three  hundred  beds, 
excellent  laboratories,  operating  and  treatment  rooms  of 
the  most  modern  pattern.  Cologne  provides  a satis- 
factory, renovated  building,  with  one  hundred  and  twenty 
beds,  equally  divided  between  controlled  and  uncontrolled 
women.  The  appointments  are  modern  in  character, 
attractive  in  appearance.  Hamburg  possesses  similar 
facilities  with  one  hundred  and  thirteen  beds;  Frank- 


212 


Regulation  and  Disease 

fort  sets  apart  eighty  beds  in  an  excellent  institution; 
Bremen,  forty-four;  Stockholm,  sixty  in  an  attractive 
building  situated  in  a pleasant  garden.  In  most  of  these 
establishments  a deliberate  effort  is  nowadays  made  to 
efface  the  impression  of  enforced  detention.  The  Stock- 
holm clinic,  among  others,  has  no  locked  doors  or  barred 
windows,  in  consequence  of  which  the  girls  are  rarely 
refractory.11  Though  the  subject  lies  outside  our  pres- 
ent inquiry,  it  should  be  added  in  passing  that  all  con- 
tinental cities  make,  in  addition  to  the  above  mentioned 
facilities,  more  or  less  liberal  provision  for  other  venereal 
patients.12 

Conditions  are  less  favorable  in  Vienna,  where  there 
is  no  special  hospital  for  diseased  prostitutes ; they  must 
be  distributed  between  the  three  skin  clinics  of  the  city. 
Even  so,  there  is  such  a scarcity  of  beds  that  they  are 
often  kept  waiting  in  prison  several  days  before  they  can 
be  placed  and  then  are  dismissed  too  soon.  But  for 
really  disgraceful  accommodations  one  must  cite  Paris. 
The  infected  Parisian  prostitute  is  interned  in  a medieval 
prison  — St.  Lazare  — a name,  at  the  mere  sound  of 
which,  the  most  hardened  offender  blanches  with  terror. 
In  this  bleak  dungeon,  young  and  old,  the  new  offender 
and  the  hopeless  hag,  mingle  freely ; they  sleep  in  the  same 
huge  dormitory,  meet  in  the  same  dark  corridors,  and 
get  their  brief  airing  in  the  same  narrow  court-yard.13 

11  This  point  will  be  referred  to  again  in  Chapter  X. 

12  An  exhaustive  study  of  Swedish  conditions  in  regard  to  hos- 
pital accommodations  for  venereal  patients  was  made  by  Johansson 
and  is  printed  in  Vol.  Ill  of  the  Report  of  the  Swedish  Com.  For 
Germany,  see  A.  Guttstadt,  Krankhenhaus-Lexikon  fur  das  Deutsche 
Reich  (Berlin,  1900),  passim. 

13  See  Eugene  Pottet,  Histoire  de  Saint-Lazare  (1122-1912), 
Paris,  1912. 

213 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

The  quality  of  the  examination  varies  widely.  At  Ber- 
lin, typical  of  the  four  best,  clinical  inspection  is  made 
of  the  mouth,  hands,  feet,  and  other  external  surfaces; 
the  genitalia  are  invariably  explored  with  the  speculum; 
microscopic  examination  for  gonococci  are  made  fort- 
nightly, or  oftener  in  suspicious  cases.  The  magnitude 
of  the  work  may  be  roughly  indicated  as  follows:  On 

the  basis  of  3,500  inscribed  women,  each  examined  twice 
weekly,  28,000  clinical  examinations  would  be  made 
monthly,—  3,500  by  each  of  the  eight  physicians.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  figures  are  smaller,  since  bi-weekly 
examinations  are  required  only  of  women  under  24.  It 
would  be  nearer  the  truth  to  estimate  that  each  physician: 
makes  from  1,500  to  2,000  clinical  examinations  monthly. 
In  August  1911,  each  of  the  four  assistants  made  2,646 
microscopic  examinations  for  gonococci, — an  average  of 
98  for  each  working-day.14  It  is  estimated  that  on  the 
average  three  minutes  are  available  for  the  examination : 
but  as  this  takes  no  account  of  time  lost,  the  actual  dura- 
tion of  the  operation  is  much  less.15  Women  sent  to  the 
hospital  are  discharged  only  after  three  successive  nega- 
tive microscopic  findings,  followed  by  an  examination 
at  police  headquarters  confirming  this  result.16 

The  Budapest  system  is  modeled  on  that  in  use  in 

14Guth  in  Zeitschrift  XIV,  p.  11. 

1B  Giith,  loc.  cit.,  p.  10. 

16  Non-registered  prostitutes,  if  arrested,  are  also  liable  to  medi- 
cal examination ; the  microscope  is  utilized  in  suspicious  cases. 
The  police  procedure  is  described  by  Inspector  Penzig  (loc.  cit.) 
as  follows:  “After  the  usual  questions  have  been  asked  of  the 
accused  woman,  the  Inspector  decides  whether  a medical  examina- 
tion shall  take  place.  The  woman  assistant  (social  worker)  also 
expresses  her  opinion  on  this  point.  If  decided  on,  the  examination 
is  made  by  a woman  physician.  As  a rule  the  women  make  no 
objection.” 


214 


Regulation  and  Disease 

Berlin.  Inscribed  prostitutes  are  card-indexed  at  police 
headquarters,  according  to  the  days  of  the  week  on  which 
they  are  scheduled  for  examination.  Their  cards  are  re- 
moved as  they  appear;  the  cards  remaining  over  at  the 
close  of  the  day  form  thus  a list  of  those  who  have  failed 
to  keep  their  appointment.  Every  girl  carries  her  own 
spatula.  The  examination  does  not  materially  differ 
from  the  Berlin  pattern,  above  described,  except  that  the 
microscope  is  utilized  only  whenever  suspicion  is  aroused, 
— not  at  regular  intervals  regardless  of  suspicion.17  Be- 
tween 600  and  700  girls  are  examined  daily  between  the 
hours  of  9 and  2.  In  the  month  of  August  1912,  341 
specimens  were  subjected  to  microscopic  examination; 
had  the  2,200  enrolled  girls  been  subjected  on  each  in- 
spection to  microscopic  examination,  17,600  specimens 
would  have  been  required.18 

Vienna  is  the  most  favorable  example  of  the  large 
group  by  no  member  of  which  the  microscope  is  em- 
ployed at  all.  The  women  appear  stripped  for  the  ex- 
amination, which  consists  of  a cursory  clinical  inspection, 
always  including  the  vagina.  A wooden  spatula  — dis- 
carded after  a single  use  — is  the  only  distinctive  feature. 
The  examination  is  very  brief, — a matter  of  seconds,  not 
minutes. 

In  the  remaining  cities,  the  examination  is  still  less 
thorough.  At  Hamburg,  for  example,  the  women  con- 
vene in  a bordell,  as  many  as  can  be  accommodated 
crowding  into  the  room  in  which  batches  are  examined. 

17  So  also  at  Bremen ; at  Stockholm  a microscopic  slide  is  made 
at  each  examination. 

18  The  Dresden  procedure  is  not  essentially  different  from  that 
of  Berlin  and  Budapest. 


215 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

The  physician  takes  a hasty  look  into  their  mouths  in  suc- 
cession, and  then  glances  at  the  genitalia,  with  only  oc- 
casional use  of  the  speculum.  His  hands  are  not  cleansed 
before  he  proceeds  from  one  girl  to  the  next.  Only  a 
few  seconds  are  devoted  to  each  case.  In  Cologne  it  is 
frankly  admitted  that  the  medical  examination  is  not 
“intensive.”  In  Geneva  the  clinical  inspection  is  con- 
fined to  the  mouth  and  the  genitalia.  In  Rome  the  ex- 
amining physician  assured  me  that  “ if  the  woman  is 
sound,  he  (I)  could  tell  it  at  the  first  glance;  he  is  more 
circumspect,  if  the  case  is  suspicious.” 

The  Paris  examination  deserves  a paragraph  to  itself. 
All  day  long  a dismal  succession  of  groups  of  abandoned 
women  file  into  the  rudely-equipped  rooms  in  which  two 
physicians  ply  their  repellent  task  perfunctorily.  A line 
is  formed;  with  open  jaws  and  protruding  tongue  they 
march  rapidly  past;  the  doctor  uses  one  spatula  for  all, 
wiping  it  hastily  on  a soiled  towel  from  time  to  time. 
This  finished,  the  same  group  in  quick  succession  as- 
cends two  surgical  chairs  to  permit  a cursory  vaginal  in- 
spection; the  physician,  stationing  himself  between  them, 
loses  no  time,  for  one  woman  is  assuming  the  recumbent 
position  while  he  is  engaged  in  the  examination  of  an- 
other; he  switches  back  and  forth  as  rapidly  as  the 
women  can  get  up  and  down, — * indulging  in  good- 
humored  and  sometimes  unseemly  jocularity  as  the  work 
proceeds.  Of  the  two  physicians  employed  on  the  oc- 
casion of  one  of  my  visits,  one  used  a rubber  glove,  the 
other  a rubber  finger, — in  both  cases  the  same  for  all ; 
though  wiped  on  a towel  from  time  to  time,  neither  was 
changed  or  cleansed.  On  one  occasion  I observed  one 

216 


Regulation  and  Disease 

of  the  physicians  examine  25  or  30  girls  without  chang- 
ing, washing,  or  wiping  the  rubber  fingers  he  wore ; and 
a number  of  those  examined  were  adjudged  “ diseased.” 
The  speculum  was  rarely  used.  In  one  instance,  pressure 
by  the  finger  on  the  urethra  discharged  an  abundant  sus- 
picious secretion;  the  same  finger,  unwashed,  was  used 
in  examining  the  next  case;  in  another  instance,  the 
same  rubber  finger  was  used  on  the  genitalia  and  about 
the  mouth.  The  inspections  consumed  from  15  to  30 
seconds  each ; “ for  vaginal  examinations,”  so  read  my 
notes  made  on  the  spot,  “ it  takes  less  time  to  examine  one 
woman  than  it  takes  another  to  mount  the  examining 
chair  and  offer  herself  for  examination,  despite  the  fact 
that  her  clothing  has  been  adjusted  before  entering  the 
room.” 

The  printed  accounts  give  the  impression  that  the  med- 
ical inspections  are  more  deliberately  carried  on.  Bett- 
mann,  for  example,  publishes  a table  in  which  it  is  stated 
that  each  examination  averages  minutes  in  Paris,  5 
minutes  in  Vienna ; 19  to  the  same  effect  is  Blaschko’s  cal- 
culation, though  he  himself  says  that  even  so,  “ the 
length  of  time  devoted  to  the  examination  is  too  brief.”  20 
I feel  sure,  however,  that  these  and  other  similar  esti- 
mates were  arrived  at  by  dividing  the  entire  time  at  the 
disposal  of  the  physicians  by  the  number  of  women  to  be 
inspected, — a fallacious  method  of  getting  at  the  facts. 
The  truth  can  be  learned  only  by  observation  registered 
on  the  spot.  At  Paris,  and  elsewhere  as  well,  much  time 
is  lost  in  making  ready  for  a task  which  is  subsequently 

19  Bettmann,  Die  arztliche  Ueberwachung  der  Prostitution,  (Jena, 
1905),  P-.50. 

20  Hygiene  der  Prost.,  pp.  83,  etc. 

21? 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

rushed,  so  that  the  nominal  period  is  by  no  means  entirely 
devoted  to  the  business  in  hand. 

What  is  the  value  of  each  of  the  types  of  medical  in- 
spection above  described?  The  question  must  be  sub- 
divided for  answer;  we  must  inquire  as  to  the  general 
effect  of  sanitary  inspection  of  women  on  participation  in 
irregular  sexual  indulgence  on  the  part  of  men ; as  to  the 
utility  of  each  of  the  methods  in  reference  to  the  women 
subjected  to  them,  respectively;  as  to  the  effect  of  police 
control  of  inscribed  women  on  the  sanitary  habits  of  the 
non-inscribed ; finally,  as  to  the  incidence  of  venereal  dis- 
ease, its  fluctuations  and  their  relation  to  sanitary  control 
of  prostitutes. 

Continental  Europe,  as  I have  pointed  out  in  a previous 
chapter,  traditionally  condones  incontinence  on  the  part 
of  the  male  sex.  No  single  cause  accounts  for  this  phe- 
nomenon; but  certainly  among  the  most  important  fac- 
tors is  not  only  the  existence  of  a powerful  instinct  in 
man,  but  also  the  extent  to  which  its  indulgence  is  facili- 
tated by  the  low  social  status  of  woman.  This  attitude 
was  incorporated  in,  not  originally  due  to,  regulatory  sys- 
tems of  dealing  with  prostitution.  The  continental  atti- 
tude towards  prostitution  and  all  the  machinery  developed 
in  connection  with  handling  it,  both  from  the  police  and 
the  sanitary  sides,  were  undoubtedly  not  orginally  the 
cause,  but  the  result,  of  an  indulgent  attitude  towards  the 
male  sex,  on  the  one  hand,  and  a disregard  of  woman’s 
dignity,  on  the  other. 

Once  instituted,  however,  the  system  itself  became  a 
factor  in  perpetuating  the  conditions  out  of  which  it 
sprang.  The  existence  of  regulation  amounts  to  a con- 

218 


Regulation  and  Disease 

cession  by  the  state  that  a vast  volume  of  promiscuous 
intercourse  is  to  be  accepted  as  a fact;21  that  for  this 
purpose  professional  prostitution  is  recognized  and,  de- 
spite verbal  quibbles,  authorized.  For  the  prosecution  of 
what  is  thus  treated  as  an  essential  and  in  a sense  legiti- 
mate traffic,  these  women  obtain  a privileged  position  on 
the  streets  or  in  quarters  notorious  for  the  use  to  which 
they  are  put.  The  prominence  thus  given  to  immorality 
operates  psychologically  as  an  incitement  to  it.  The 
complacent  attitude  towards  indulgence  implied  in  the 
mild  effort  made  by  the  state  to  remove  or  reduce  its 
dangers  indubitably  diminishes  internal  inhibition  on  the 
part  of  the  male.  Nothing  is  more  certain  in  the  domain 
of  effort  and  ethics  than  that  good  conduct  is  largely 
the  response  of  the  individual  to  the  expectation  of  so- 
ciety : men  “ can  because  they  think  they  can.”  22  Social 
stigma  is  a most  powerful  deterrent ; social  assent  a pow- 
erful stimulus.  Regulation  implies  the  absence  of  any 
expectation  of  male  self-restraint;  it  is  society’s  tacit 
assent  to  laxity.23  Nay  more,  it  is  an  invitation  to  laxity 
in  so  far  as  it  deprives  dissipation  of  one  of  its  terrors, 
for  the  existence  of  medical  regulation  must  be  inter- 
preted as  implying  a certain  degree  of  efficacy  in  the  at- 
tainment of  its  object.  There  can,  therefore,  be  no  ques- 

21  It  is  perhaps  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  state  that  I do  not 
mean  to  imply  that  if  the  State  made  no  such  concession,  prosti- 
tution would  either  vanish  or  at  once  be  greatly  diminished ; the 
point  is  that  the  attitude  involved  in  regulation  interferes  with  a 
vigorous  or  a general  struggle  in  the  direction  of  self-restraint. 

22  Vergil,  Aeneid,  Book  V,  line  231,  Conington’s  version  of  “ Pos- 
sunt,  quia  posse  videntur.” 

23  “ Still  more  objectionable  must  be  considered  the  fact  that 
society  helps  in  this  way  to  maintain  the  belief  among  many  per- 
sons that  prostitution  is  a necessity.”  Johansson,  loc.  cit.,  p.  130. 


219 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tion  that  state  regulation  of  vice  increases  the  volume 
of  irregular  intercourse  and  the  number  of  those  who 
participate  in  it.  Certain  it  is  that  the  notion  that  male 
self-control  is  both  possible  and  wholesome  has  spread 
“ pari  passu  ” with  the  attack  on  regulation  and  with  the 
elevation  of  the  status  of  woman  that  invariably  accom- 
panies this  movement. 

The  utility  of  regulation  is  thus  opened  to  serious 
question  not  only  on  ethical  but  on  hygienic  grounds. 
For  the  present,  I take  no  position  as  to  the  hygienic  con- 
dition of  the  woman  examined;  I am  looking  at  the 
problem  more  broadly.  Regulation  tends  to  increase 
miscellaneous  sexual  congress.  Such  congress  takes 
place  in  the  long-run  with  both  inscribed  and  non-in- 
scribed  women.  Irregularity  craves  variety;  and  infec- 
tion is  the  wellnigh  inevitable  penalty  of  sexual  promis- 
cuity. To  whatever  extent  regulation  tends  to  increase 
irregular  commerce  by  diminishing  individual  and  social 
resistance,  to  that  extent  it  tends  to  increase  the  amount 
of  venereal  disease.  Therefore,  even  if  regulation 
should  be  found  to  be  more  or  less  effective,  its  sanitary 
achievement  has  to  be  offset  against  the  increased  amount 
of  congress  to  which  it  indubitably  conduces ; one  has  to 
ask  whether  more  congress  with  regulation  is  not  likely 
to  result  in  more  disease  than  would  result  from  less  con- 
gress without  any  regulation  at  all. 

It  is  occasionally  denied  that  the  mere  existence  of 
regulation  tends  to  develop  recklessness  on  the  basis  of  as- 
sumed security.  Blaschko,  for  example,  a distinguished 
authority,  while  conceding  that  here  and  there  an  indi- 
vidual is  misled,  does  not  believe  that  the  problem  as  a 

220 


Regulation  and  Disease 

whole  is  appreciably  affected.24  But  Blaschko  starts  with 
the  assumption  that  things  have  always  been  as  they  are 
and  will  never  be  much  different.  My  own  impressions 
are,  however,  distinctly  opposed  to  Blaschko’s  view:  I 
have,  I think,  observed  unmistakable  evidence  that  regula- 
tion is  itself  one  of  the  factors  in  demoralization,  by  rea- 
son of  the  prominence  it  gives  to  prostitution,  the  under- 
mining of  the  forces  that  make  for  good  conduct,  and  the 
illusions  of  safety  that  it  creates.  My  notes  contain 
many  random  conversations  which  cannot  be  wholly  with- 
out representative  significance  as  to  the  last-named 
point.  I happened,  for  example,  to  call  on  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  French  dermatologists  at  the  time  when 
he  was  consulted  by  a wealthy  Mexican  gentleman  who 
was  passing  the  winter  in  the  gay  capital.  A prompt 
diagnosis  of  syphilis  was  made.  “ Impossible!  ” rejoined 
the  perturbed  patient.  “ I have  had  nothing  to  do  with 
any  woman  except  an  inmate  of  a well  known  resort  of 
high  character  (he  named  the  house  and  street),  who 
possesses  a certificate  of  good  health.  For  this  security 
I pay  ioo  francs.”  “ You  could  purchase  equal  security 
much  cheaper  on  the  streets,”  replied  the  French  savant. 
Communications  of  precisely  the  same  tenor  have  been 
made  to  me  by  intelligent  men  — foreigners  as  well  as 
Americans  — in  Paris,  Berlin,  Rome,  and  Stockholm. 
Schneider,  an  exceptionally  candid  witness  as  to  the  well- 
to-do  German  youth,  declares : “ A very  large  propor- 

24  Hygiene  der  Prostitution,  p.  88.  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
within  a few  pages  I have  twice  ventured  to  differ  with  Prof. 
Blaschko,  it  is  perhaps  proper  for  me  to  state  that  he  is  one  of  the 
foremost  and  one  of  the  soundest  of  European  authorities  on  the 
entire  subject. 


221 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tion  of  men  who  hunt  out  official  prostitutes  live  in  the 
belief  that  sexual  intercourse  with  inscribed  women  is,  in 
consequence  of  medical  control,  practically  without 
danger.  In  my  earlier  years  I myself  held  to  this  view, 
and  only  after  I had  taken  pains  to  study  the  subject 
thoroughly,  did  I perceive  that  there  was  no  safety  at  all. 
Alas,  too  late ! And  the  same  thing  happens  to  thousands 
of  others,  who  are  lulled  into  a false  sense  of  security  and 
whose  moral  scruples  are  also  weakened.”  25  If  such  is 
the  state  of  mind  among  the  intelligent,  is  it  not  probable 
that  the  uneducated  make  the  same  assumption?  Ex- 
perienced physicians  can  be  quoted  in  support  of  this  view. 
“ The  public  is  fooled.  The  laity  is  led  to  believe  that  it 
is  possible  to  distinguish  diseased  from  healthy  prosti- 
tutes. As  all  the  diseased  ones  are  sent  to  the  hospital, 
relations  with  controlled  prostitutes  are  free  from  danger. 
This  is  the  popular  conclusion.”  26  The  official  rules 
themselves  practically  concede  the  point.  For  the  police 
are  now  at  pains  to  disavow  the  natural  consequence  of 
their  own  policy.  The  Paris  regulations  state  in  bold  type 
that  “ the  card  delivered  to  inscribed  women  must  not  be 
regarded  as  an  incentive  to  debauch ; ” and  the  public  is 
commonly  warned  that  the  medical  examination  is  not  to 
be  interpreted  as  a guarantee  of  safety. 

Regulation  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  calculated 
to  increase  the  volume  of  irregular  intercourse  : what  does 
it  accomplish  by  way  of  rendering  such  intercourse  harm- 
less? 

Medical  control  is  concerned  chiefly  with  two  diseases, 

25  Loc.  cit.,  p.  107  (slightly  abridged). 

26  Zeitschrift  VIII,  p.  399. 


222 


Regulation  and  Disease 

syphilis  and  gonorrhoea,27  in  reference  to  both  of  which 
its  object  is  not  primarily  to  heal  the  woman,  but  rather 
to  protect  her  patrons  from  infection.  It  is  therefore 
not  essential,  from  the  standpoint  of  regulation,  that 
prostitutes  who  have  contracted  syphilis  should  be  in- 
terned during  the  several  years  during  which  the  disease 
runs  its  regular  course ; it  is  only  essential  that  the  woman 
be  kept  under  lock  and  key  during  the  infectious  stages  of 
that  tedious  process.  And  the  same  is  true,  theoretically 
at  least,  of  gonorrhoea. 

The  salient  points  in  connection  with  these  diseases  are, 
for  our  purposes,  these.  Both  are  contracted  early  in 
the  prostitute’s  career.  Syphilis  is  a protracted  affair, 
but  the  girl  who  has  run  the  entire  gamut  of  a single 
infection  is  subsequently  immune;  she  does  not  herself 
freshly  contract  the  disease.  She  may,  of  course,  at  any 
time,  act  as  a carrier,  receiving  the  germ  from  one  patron 
and  conveying  it  to  another,  even  while  herself  not  be- 
coming actively  infected.  Having  herself,  however,  con- 
tracted the  disease,  she  is  highly  infectious  during  the 
primary  stage,  calculable  in  weeks,  and  during  the  sec- 
ondary stage,  usually  occupying  from  two  to  three  years, 
but  sometimes  lasting  from  five  to  ten.  During  this  time, 
fresh  manifestations,  indicative  of  danger,  appear  from 
time  to  time;  but  infection  may  also  be  communicated 
when  no  signs  of  disease  are  visible.  It  is  very  important 
at  the  very  outset  to  get  clear  notions  as  to  these  points. 
Syphilis  is  highly  infectious  during  the  entire  duration 

27  I have  paid  little  attention  to  soft  chancre  because  it  is  of  so 
much  less  consequence  than  the  two  diseases  on  which  the  argu- 
ment turns. 


223 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  the  primary  local  lesion.  In  the  secondary  stage,  it 
is  highly  infectious  when  florid;  probably  not  infectious, 
when  really  latent ; — that  is,  when  the  disease  is  active 
only  in  liver,  brain,  and  other  internal  organs  or  tissues. 
But  the  difficulty  is  that  syphilis  is  often  regarded  as 
latent  when  it  is  actually  florid, — the  signs  escaping 
observation.  At  any  time,  infection  may  take  place  not 
only  in  sexual  intercourse,  but  also  through  the  mouth, 
saliva,  and  other  secretions  and  contacts.28  Relapses  are 
also  very  common.  Of  722  prostitutes  with  secondary 
syphilis,  529  relapsed  1,601  times  in  the  first  year,  204 
relapsed  303  times  in  the  second  year,  90  relapsed  120 
times  in  the  third  year,  53  relapsed  73  times  in  the  fourth 
year.29  Often  the  symptoms  are  almost  unnoticeable,  at 
times  escaping  the  vigilance  of  a careful  observer.  The 
clinical  history  of  a syphilitic  woman  is  by  no  means  a 
sufficient  assurance  that  she  is  no  longer  a source  of  peril 
to  her  patrons. 

Gonorrhoea  is  wholly  incalculable.  No  matter  how  fre- 
quent its  attacks,  no  immunity  results.  Prostitutes,  it  is 
true,  appear  to  contract  acute  infections  less  often  as  they 
grow  older;  but  this  is  probably  due,  not  to  an  acquired 
immunity,  but  to  toughening  of  the  tissues  and  decreased 
exposure  to  infection  through  falling  off  in  business. 
Clinical  appearances  as  to  the  presence  or  cure  of  the  dis- 
ease are  entirely  unreliable.  Of  the  elements  on  which 
such  judgments  rest  — the  color,  odor,  and  consistency 
of  the  secretions  — Giith  declares : “ No  criterion  could 

be  more  arbitrary  or  deceptive,  for,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
clinical  character  of  the  gonorrhoeal  excretion  varies  so 

28  M.  v.  Gruber,  loc.  cit.,  p.  6.  29  Ibid,  p.  26. 

224 


Regulation  and  Disease 

often  and  so  suddenly,  that  a person  who  appears  sus- 
picious to-day  may  be  free  of  secretion  to-morrow,  and 
subsequently  again  show  suspicious  symptoms.  An  ap- 
parently innocent  manifestation  may  be  infectious;  a 
transparent  vaginal  secretion  may  be  infectious;  a puru- 
lent discharge  may  be  non-communicable.”  30  Whether 
even  a microscopical  examination  is  competent  to  decide 
the  question  involved  is  open  to  grave  doubt.  Unques- 
tionably the  microscope  can  note  the  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  gonococci ; but  it  is  not  yet  proved  that  their  viru- 
lence diminishes  in  the  same  ratio.  Moreover,  a secre- 
tion relatively  poor  in  gonococci  may  still  transmit  infec- 
tion, even  though  the  secretion  is  so  poor  in  them 
that  successive  slides  fail  to  indicate  their  presence.31 
Finally,  gonococci  of  diminished  virulence  quickly  re- 
cover their  full  virulence  when  transferred  to  a favorable 
membrane. 

What  does  regulation,  as  we  have  described  it,  ac- 
complish, first,  with  those  examined,  next,  with  respect  to 
the  general  situation?  It  needs  little  argument  to  show 
that  the  crude  clinical  procedures  of  which  Paris  is 
typical  achieve  little  in  the  way  of  isolating  infected  foci. 
In  the  first  place,  the  examination  is  so  rapidly  and  care- 
lessly conducted  that,  if  the  truth  were  known,  it  might 
well  be  found  to  communicate  more  infection  than  it 
detects,  (as,  for  example,  when  a finger,  used  to  separate 
actively  diseased  parts,  is  applied  uncleansed  to  the  same 
parts  of  others).  In  ascertaining  clinical  conditions  the 

30  Giith,  loc.  cit.,  p.  3. 

31  In  the  preceding  account  I have  followed  Blaschko,  “ Hygiene 
der  Prostitution,  etc.”  pp.  1-19;  Pinkus,  “Die  Verhiitung  der  Ge - 
schlechtskrankheiten”  and  Giith,  loc.  cit. 

225 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

commonest  precautions  are  by  no  means  invariably  em- 
ployed. One  physician  examined  in  my  presence  30  girls, 
using  the  speculum  only  three  or  four  times;  all  were 
pronounced  well;  his  neighbor,  who  used  the  speculum 
regularly  found  a few  infected  cases,  such  as  the  former 
must  have  missed.  The  examining  physicians  realize  the 
slipshod  nature  of  their  work.  A suspicious  secretion 
having  been  noted  by  a bystander  in  the  case  of  a woman 
pronounced  “ well,”  the  physician  was  asked  how  he 
knew.  He  shrugged  his  shoulders : “ I don’t  know ; but 
there’s  no  way  to  tell.  If  we  kept  cases  like  that,  we’d 
keep  over  half.”  Another  of  the  examining  physicians 
disposed  of  a similar  case  in  the  same  way:  “ We  can’t 

keep  them,  we  haven’t  space,  though  we  aren’t  sure  that 
they  are  well.”  Still  another:  “ Accurate  diagnosis  is 

impossible;  under  these  conditions,  gonorrhoea,  unless 
virulent,  is  ignored;  our  real  effort  is  to  detect  syphilis.” 
In  another  case,  a woman  pronounced  “ well  ” was  leav- 
ing the  chair  when,  on  a bystander’s  skeptical  remark,  the 
physician  reversed  his  opinion  and  sent  the  unfortunate 
to  St.  Lazare.  The  total  number  of  women  incarcerated 
at  any  one  time  on  the  score  of  venereal  infection  is 
negligibly  small.  On  the  occasion  of  my  visit  to  St. 
Lazare,  170  venereal  women  were  confined  there,  and  I 
was  informed  by  the  chief  clerk  that  this  was  a fair  av- 
erage; these  are  the  scapegoats  for  the  venereal  disease 
in  circulation  among  the  prostitutes  of  the  French  capital ! 
Assuredly  the  temporary  withdrawal  of  170  infected 
women  from  the  thousands  with  whom  Paris  teems  is 
utterly  without  influence  in  the  long-run ; more  especially 
as  these  women  are  themselves  turned  adrift  before  their 

226 


Regulation  and  Disease 

infectiousness  has  passed.  Regulation  of  this  type  has 
less  effect  in  reducing  disease  than  a rainy  night  or  a 
spurt  of  police  activity, — both  temporarily  diminishing 
the  accessibility  of  supply  to  demand  and  its  provocative 
character. 

The  medical  examination  at  Geneva,  Brussels,  and 
Rome  is  of  the  same  general  type  and  works  in  the  same 
way.  The  City  Physician  of  Geneva  explained  to  me 
that  it  required  only  “ about  an  hour  or  so  ” to  examine 
the  86  inscribed  women  of  that  city.  To  my  comment 
“ this  is  pretty  quick  work/’  he  replied,  “ Yes,  but  I know 
them!”  I asked  how  often  disease  is  found.  “Very, 
very  rarely,”  he  candidly  replied.  Elsewhere  I learned 
that  as  a rule  the  hospital  of  Geneva  is  free  of  women 
in  so  far  as  this  source  of  supply  is  concerned.  The 
conditions  under  which  the  examinations  are  made 
in  Brussels  and  Rome  preclude  anything  beyond  primi- 
tive work.  The  provincial  health  officer  at  Rome  de- 
clared that  the  official  examinations  by  the  police  phy- 
sicians disclosed  “ very  little  disease  ” ; subsequently 
one  of  the  latter  conceded  that  “ the  examination  is 
good  enough  to  detect  primary  syphilis;  it  is  of 
little  value  otherwise.  Of  course  virulent  gonorrhoea 
would  be  observed.  But  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  the 
others  safe, — in  so  far  as  gonorrhoea  is  concerned, 
no  public  woman  is  ever  safe.”  At  Brussels,  during  the 
two  years  preceding  my  visit,  a total  of  26  prostitutes 
had  received  hospital  treatment, — inscribed  and  non-in- 
scribed.  The  year  before  — 1910  — - nine  inscribed  pros- 
titutes and  27  clandestine  were  pronounced  “ diseased.”  32 

82  Rapport  Annuel , Ville  de  Bruxelles , Annee,  1910,  p.  65.  In 

227 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

“The  real  harmlessness  of  the  registered  prostitute,” 
says  Dr.  Baget,  head  of  the  hospital  division  at  Brussels, 
“ consists  in  this, — that  she  is  practically  non-existent. 
My  clinic  at  Hospital  St.-Pierre  contains  four  beds  for 
prostitutes,  and  even  these  are  almost  always  empty.”  33 
The  above  description  has  dealt  with  regulation  at  its 
worst.  In  reply,  it  may  be  fairly  urged  that,  though 
showing  how  regulation  has  worked  in  the  past,  it  does 
not  prove  that  better  results  are  either  unattainable  or 
unattained.  Let  us  see,  therefore,  what  happens  in  Vi- 
enna and  most  German  cities  in  which  a more  conscien- 
tious type  of  clinical  examination  obtains.  In  these,  at 
least,  the  examination  is  not  in  itself  a direct  factor  in 
spreading  infection;  for  individual  spatulse  and  individ- 
ual specula  are  commonly  used.  If  not,  the  instruments 
employed  are  as  a rule  properly  cleansed.  The  overbur- 
dened physicians  have,  however,  neither  time  nor  facilities 
to  make  proper  observations.  I was  present  at  Hamburg 
at  the  examination  of  42  women  in  a bordell;  the  whole 
process  occupied  less  than  20  minutes.  These  women  are 
•supposed  to  be  “ under  strict  control  ” ; 34  on  another 
occasion,  I witnessed  the  examination  of  50  women,  some 
under  “ light  control,”  35  others,  clandestine ; the  specu- 
lum was  not  generally  used  and  the  entire  transaction, 
including  the  writing  of  the  protocol,  occupied  less  than  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  All  were  pronounced  well.36  The 

1898  — at  a time  when  172  women  were  enrolled  — 7 patients  were 
sent  to  the  hospital  in  the  course  of  the  year  ( Compte  Rendu  des 
Seances,  lie  Conference  Internationale,  Bruxelles,  1903,  pp.  185-6). 

33  Zeitschrift  VIII,  p.  291. 

34  “ Strenge  Kontrolle.” 

35  “ Leichte  Kontrolle.” 

36  The  hands  of  the  physician  were  uncovered  and  were  not 
washed  until  all  the  examinations  were  completed. 

228 


Regulation  and  Disease 

medical  service  in  Cologne  suffers  — as  it  suffers  in  all 
great  cities  — on  account  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  staff. 
“ A thorough  hygienic  examination  is  impossible.  Syph- 
ilis especially  in  its  most  infectious  forms  can  be  quickly 
recognized  by  an  experienced  observer;  but  chronic  gon- 
orrhoea can  be  made  out  only  after  accurate  scrutiny: 
the  preparation  and  study  of  a microscopic  specimen  de- 
mands more  time  than  a police  surgeon  can  give.”  37  In 
consequence,  the  number  of  women  who  are  isolated  is 
everywhere  inconsiderable;  at  Cologne,  on  the  day  of 
my  visit  to  the  police  hospital,  30  registered  women  were 
confined  for  treatment;  in  the  course  of  January,  1912, 
75  women  were  found  to  be  suffering  with  disease  in 
Hamburg;  in  February,  67 ; in  April,  53.  In  Vienna,  the 
total  found  diseased  during  five  successive  years  was  as 
follows : 

1906  1907  1908  1909  1910 


Soft  Chancre  129  97  82  80  70 

Gonorrhoea  127  87  107  70  94 

Syphilis  224  162  185  206  168 

Total  480  346  374  356  332 


In  Berlin,  during  the  vogue  of  the  clinical  examination, 
the  average  number  of  women  interned  ranged  from  260 
in  1895-6,  to  157  in  1903-4.38  In  Stockholm,  for  all 
causes,  522  enrolled  prostitutes  were  sent  into  the  hos- 
pital 955  times  in  the  year  1904.39 

It  is  obvious  that  among  the  registered  prostitutes  of 
a city  there  are  at  every  moment  many  more  diseased 
women  than  any  of  the  above  figures  indicate.  Why  are 

37  Zinnser  in  Zeitschrift  V,  pp.  204-5  (abridged). 

38  Communicated  by  Prof.  Pinkus. 

39  Johansson,  loc.  cit.,  p.  36. 


229 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

they  not  detected  ? The  doctors  are  overburdened  with 
work,  which  is  of  such  a nature  as  to  make  severe  and 
uniform  scrutiny  impossible.  Enormous  fluctuations 
therefore  occur,  fluctuations  which  cannot  possibly  be 
due  to  sudden  improvement  or  sudden  deterioration  in 
the  condition  of  the  women.  For  instance,  in  Vienna, 
with  an  enrolment  of  2,569  in  1901,  1,185  women  were 
found  to  be  diseased;  of  2,380  enrolled  in  1905,  543 
were  diseased;  with  2,329  in  1910,  332  were  diseased. 
At  Stockholm,  between  1890  and  1904,  the  annual  num- 
ber committed  to  the  hospital  ranged  from  523  to  i,026.4° 
Sixty-seven  girls  were  sent  to  the  police  hospital  of  Ber- 
lin in  December,  1907;  under  the  same  system,  349  were 
sent  in  May  1911;  230  in  December  of  the  same  year. 
The  average  daily  hospital  roll  numbered  262  in  1897-8, 
184  in  1 900-1,  and  122  in  1908-9.  A change  of  doctors 
is  invariably  followed  by  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  dis- 
ease detected,—  surely  not  in  an  increase  in  the  amount 
of  disease  existing.  Thus  in  1903-4,  1,258  cases  of  ve- 
nereal disease  were  discovered  in  women,  both  inscribed 
and  uninscribed;  a new  medical  staff  found  1,845  cases 
the  next  year.41 

The  utter  baselessness  of  any  confidence  placed  by  the 
patron  on  the  fact  of  medical  inspection  is  thus  obvious : 
inspected  women  may  not  only  be  diseased  at  the  moment 
they  are  sent  to  the  streets  and  bordells  to  do  business 
as  sound, — but,  as  we  shall  also  see,  if  found  diseased, 
they  are,  as  a rule,  even  after  treatment,  allowed  to  re- 
turn to  their  avocation  while  still  highly  dangerous. 

40  Johansson,  loc.  cit.,  p.  36. 

41  Figures  given  by  Professor  Pinkus. 

230 


Regulation  and  Disease 

But  aside  from  such  variations,  the  clinical  method  is 
utterly  incompetent  to  detect  any  considerable  portion  of 
infectious  disease.42  I have  already  quoted  Giith  on  the 
difficulty  attending  a clinical  diagnosis  in  gonorrhoea ; his 
position  can  be  fully  sustained  by  both  figures  and  opin- 
ions. Giith  himself  tells  of  a series  of  cases,  35% 
of  which  showed  clinical  symptoms  of  gonorrhoea;  the 
microscope  showed  90%. 43  The  figures  for  three  years 
at  Budapest  are  highly  instructive, — those  for  1907  the 
result  of  clinical  examination,  those  of  1909  and  1911 
the  result  of  clinical  assisted  by  some  microscopic  work : 
Number  of  Total  cases 


enrolled  venereal 

Year  prostitutes  disease  Gonorrhoea  Syphilis  Bubo 

1907  R7I7  884  328  105  451 

1909  i,9i4  2,775  1,112  897  766 

19 1 1 2,097  2,100  839  697  564 


Between  1907  and  1909  the  number  of  prostitutes  in- 
creased 22%  ; the  amount  of  ascertained  disease  increased 
1 37 %— gonorrhoea,  156%,  syphilis,  25%.  So  at  Ber- 
lin, the  number  of  cases  detected  leaped  from  1,258  in 
I9°3~4  to  3,721  in  1911-12,  with  change  of  personnel 
of  the  medical  staff  and  the  introduction  of  partial  use 
of  the  microscope;  consider  the  amount  of  misplaced  con- 
fidence and  resultant  disease  that  medical  inspection  had 
previously  made  itself  responsible  for!  Dr.  Moller  of 
Stockholm  gives  confirmatory  statistics;  in  1874,  19 

42  Though  this  book  deals  only  with  prostitution  in  Europe,  I 
venture  for  the  purpose  of  conclusively  establishing  the  uselessness 
of  the  clinical  method  to  refer  to  the  researches  of  Dr.  Archibald 
McNeil  of  New  York  City. . Of  647  girls  examined,  20.56%  had 
clinical  manifestations  of  disease;  of  466  of  these  same  girls, 
microscopic  and  other  tests  showed  89.3%  to  be  venereally  in- 
fected. See  Kneeland,  “ Commercialized  Prostitution  in  New  York 
City  (New  York,  1913),  pp.  188-190. 

43  Loc.  cit.,  p.  4. 


231 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

cases  of  gonorrhoea  were  found  among  298  prostitutes 
by  clinical  methods  (6  per  cent.)  ; in  1884,  64  among  431 
women  (15  per  cent)  ; in  1894,  141  among  464  (30  per 
cent)  ; partial  use  of  the  microscope  in  1904  with  408 
registered  women  revealed  749  cases,  i.  e.,  174  per  cent, 
in  the  course  of  the  year.44  Baermann  at  Breslau  con- 
cludes after  long  experience  that  “ without  the  use  of  the 
microscope  the  question  as  to  whether  an  exudate  from 
the  urethra  or  cervix  is  infectious  or  harmful  cannot  be 
decided.”  This  being  the  result  of  incomplete  use  of 
the  microscope,  to  how  much  infection  did  the  privileges 
conferred  by  regulation  lead  in  Cologne  in  the  year  1905, 
when  among  2,048  prostitutes  examined  in  the  course  of 
the  year,  148  (i.  e.,  7.2  per  cent.)  were  pronounced  vene- 
really  diseased  ? 45  Or  at  Vienna,  when,  out  of  2,1 16  en- 
rolled women,  87  were  found  to  be  suffering  with  gonor- 
rhoea and  162  with  syphilis  in  the  course  of  the  year 
1907?  46  The  following  table47  shows  the  absurdly  in- 
adequate amount  of  disease  detected  by  clinical  methods 
in  the  prostitutes  of  those  German  cities  that  I visited.48 


No.  inscribed  women  No.  found  diseased 


City 

1903 

1905 

1907 

1903 

1905 

1907 

Berlin  49 

...2,231 

2,663 

2,272 

620 

576 

733 

Hamburg  . . . . . 

1,291 

920 

759 

719 

791 

Munich  

215 

175 

165 

46 

36 

Dresden  49 

...  277 

394 

281 

248 

333 

426 

Cologne  

. . . 500 

500 

500 

312 

212 

336 

Frankfort  a/M 

...*449 

*412 

*512 

341 

529 

493 

Stuttgart  

...  23 

16 

22 

22 

18 

28 

* About. 


44  Zeitschrift  VI,  pp.  232  etc. 

45  Zeitschrift  V,  p.  205. 

46 Zeitschrift  IX,  p.  172. 

47  Zeitschrift  XIII,  p.  6. 

48  Bremen  not  included. 

40  This  refers  to  a date  preceding  the  reform  of  system  to  be  next 
discussed. 

232 


Regulation  and  Disease 

The  women  themselves  have  learnt  the  trick  of  de- 
feating the  examination.  So  crude  an  examination  for 
gonorrhoea  as  that  with  which  we  are  now  dealing  can 
be  eluded  by  thorough  irrigation  before  examination. 
Giith  specifies  various  devices  by  which  clinical  inspec- 
tion may  be  deceived  and  declares  that  there  are  “ in 
the  large  cities  persons  who  make  a business  of  under- 
taking these  manipulations  for  controlled  women.” 50 
The  more  careful  type  of  clinical  examination  can  also 
be  eluded : “ If  one  remembers  that  especially  women 

who  are  regularly  examined  are  highly  expert  in  con- 
cealing the  traces  of  disease,  one  realizes  that  the  medical 
examination  has  after  all  only  a relative  value,”  52  writes 
Professor  Zinnser,  who  calls  himself  a regulationist. 
The  bacteriologist  of  the  Budapest  police  regards  these 
practices  as  serious  obstacles  even  to  the  more  refined 
methods  practised  in  that  city.  “ The  visible  symptoms 
of  disease  are  rendered  either  invisible  or  misleading. 
These  disreputable  physicians  perform  antiluetic  cures 
and  treat  the  urethra  with  injections,  thus  enabling  the 
prostitute  to  ply  her  trade.”  52 

The  actual  scope  of  regulation  is,  however,  less  than 
its  apparent  scope;  for  an  inscription  list  of  6,ooo  at 
Paris  or  3,000  at  Berlin  or  25  at  Stuttgart  does  not  mean 
that  the  number  of  prostitutes  in  question  is  in  each  city 
under  continuous,  even  if  periodic,  inspection,  so  that 
there  is  a more  or  less  stable  body  of  approved  women. 
No  system  of  inspection  can  be  effective  if  it  is  discon- 
tinuous; hence  a large  subtraction  from  even  the  possible 

50  Loc.  cit.,  p.  3. 

51  Zeitschrift  V,  p.  205. 

52 Translation  from  police  journal  “Public  Safety May  29,  1912. 

233 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

efficacy  of  a limited  and  imperfect  system  must  be  made 
on  the  score  of  irregularity.  Though  6,000  women  are 
registered  at  Paris,  the  number  who  continue  for  a con- 
siderable period  and  who  come  regularly  to  inspection  is 
relatively  small.  In  a few  instances,  a withered  hag  re- 
ports for  examination  and  one  is  told  that  she  has  been 
under  observation  for  25  years  or  longer;  but  far  the 
greater  number  are  constantly  shifting.  For  example,  in 
1884,  1,006  women  were  newly  inscribed,  1,089  disap- 
peared from  the  rolls;  in  1886,  1,145  were  inscribed, 
2,283  dropped  out;  in  1902,  1,574  and  1,717,  respec- 
tively.53 Some  of  these  are,  of  course,  restored  to  the 
list,  but  as  a rule  only  to  slip  away  again.  Of  629  women 
newly  inscribed  in  Breslau  during  the  year  1886,  147 
dropped  out  in  the  first  year,  94  in  the  second,  80  in  the 
third.54  In  Vienna,  as  already  shown,  the  number  of 
disappearances  and  the  number  of  enrolments  keep  close 
together.  A small  body  of  older  women  are  more  or 
less  stationary;  the  remainder  are  in  perpetual  transit, 
— and  this  remainder  includes  the  younger  and  more 
aggressive,  whom  effective  regulation  would  have  to 
keep  under  continuous  observation.  The  same  is  true 
at  Berlin ; additions  and  disappearances  from  the  list  are 
as  follows : 55 


Year  1902  1903  1904  1905  1906 

Newly  inscribed 538  590  683  917  1,207 

Dropped  out 699  696  1,105  1,069  824 


Whether  even  the  humane  spirit  of  the  new  regulations 

53  Report,  French  Com.,  Annexes,  p.  259. 

54  See  Bettmann,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  177-180  for  additional  illustrations. 
Also  Zeitschrift  I,  p.  298. 

55  Pinkus,  loc.  cit.,  p.  71 ; of  course  some  withdrawals  are  due  ta 
death,  change  of  occupation,  etc.  See  g<lso  Zeitschrift  VIJI,  p , 59. 

234 


Regulation  and  Disease 

will  greatly  affect  disappearances  remains  yet  to  be 
proved ; in  a single  month,  as  many  as  60  have  dropped 
out;  in  1911,  218  disappeared.56 

In  Stockholm,  Moller  found  that  of  857  controlled 
women,  286  were  missing  after  one  month;  109  more 
after  two  months;  100  more  after  three;  76  more  after 
four:  at  the  close  of  the  15th  month,  i.  e.,  5% 
were  left.57  A cursory  inspection  of  police  records  at 
Bremen  showed  me  that  with  few  exceptions  a woman 
was  rarely  on  the  rolls  longer  than  a few  months.  Of 
Stuttgart's  small  roll  of  24,  22  had  been  inscribed  less 
than  a year, — of  these,  10  less  than  a half-year.58 

In  addition,  visits  are  frequently  missed,  so  that  those 
who  remain  on  the  rolls  are  examined  less  frequently 
than  the  regulations  require.  Under  the  old  Berlin  sys- 
tem, more  than  50%  of  the  visits  from  1888  to  1901  were 
thus  omitted;  there  should  have  been  208,000  examina- 
tions ; 94,000  were  actually  performed.59  At  Stockholm, 
out  of  6,667  examinations  ordered  from  July  to  Decem- 
ber, 1905,  2,242  were  missed  on  the  appointed  day.60 
Taking  the  entire  period  1870  to  1912,  Johansson  finds 
that  fully  40%  of  the  women  who  ought  to  appear  at 
least  fortnightly  for  medical  inspection  fail  to  remain 
under  regular  control.  The  office  records  seem  to  make 
a more  favorable  showing  only  because  they  note  merely 
the  beginning  of  an  interruption  in  the  woman’s  attend- 
ance which  may,  however,  last  several  weeks.61 

56  Personal  communication. 

57  Zeitschrift  VI,  p.  275.  Also  Johansson,  Report,  Swedish  Com- 
mission, Vol.  Ill,  p.  47. 

58  Meher,  loc.  cit.,  p.  157. 

59  Schmolder,  Unsere  heutige  Prostitution  (Munich,  1911)  p.  22* 

60  Johansson,  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  43. 

61  Reglementeringen  in  Stockholm,  pp.  78-9. 

235 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

The  tendency  to  disappear  is  of  course  strongest  in  the 
case  of  women  who,  knowing  themselves  diseased,  face 
the  prospect  of  detention.  Between  1885  and  1899,  for 
example,  Johansson  finds  156  inscribed  women  who 
stayed  away  from  the  medical  inspection;  of  these,  92, 
i.  e.,  just  under  60%,  had  primary  syphilitic  sores.62  In 
1904,  Zl7°  °f  the  Stockholm  women  sent  to  the  hospital 
missed  inspection  just  before  their  commitment.  Dur- 
ing that  year  9%  of  the  women  had  to  be  apprehended 
on  the  charge  of  missing  the  medical  visit;  hence,  staying 
away  from  medical  examination  was  more  than  three 
times  as  frequent  among  the  sick  as  among  the  general 
list.62a  It  appears,  further,  that  of  845  women  who  be- 
tween 1885  and  1906  contracted  syphilis  after  enrolment 
the  primary  symptoms  escaped  detection,  through  inter- 
ruption of  inspection  in  656  cases  (77.6%).62b  In- 
spection is  therefore  apt  to  be  terminated  by  the  act  of 
the  woman  just  at  the  moment  when  it  becomes  impor- 
tant. The  women  whom  the  police  find  to  be  ill  are 
therefore  largely  those  who,  arrested  for  infraction  of 
the  rules,  are  subjected  to  an  unexpected  examination; 
women  who  are  deceived  as  to  their  condition ; and  those 
who  have  bungled  in  the  attempt  to  hide  it  or  have  not  yet 
learned  how  to  do  so.  Thus  the  system  is  even  less  ef- 
fective than  the  size  of  the  enrolment  and  the  method 
of  conducting  the  examination  themselves  indicate. 

But  the  system  undermines  itself  at  another  point:  the 
women,  if  found  to  be  diseased,  are  not  detained  long 
enough.  Dr.  Commenge,  head  of  the  Paris  bureau,  re- 

62  Johansson,  Report , Swedish  Commission  Vol.  Ill,  p.  168. 

62a  Reglementering en  in  Stockholm,  p.  41. 

Q2^Ibid,  p.  43. 

236 


Regulation  and  Disease 


ported  to  the  Brussels  conference  that  in  the  two  dec- 
ades between  1877  and  1897,  IS>°95  syphilitic  prosti- 
tutes were  confined  in  St.  Lazare  an  average  of  30  days 
each.63  In  Vienna,  between  1893  and  1896,  cases  of 
gonorrhoea  were  detained  from  18  to  21  days,  cases  of 
syphilis  from  21  to  27  days.64  The  police  bacteriologist 
of  Budapest  states : “ One  and  the  same  prostitute 

might  come  into  the  hospital  repeatedly  for  the  same 
infection.  We  know  that  syphilis  lasts  for  years;  it  is 
undeniable  that,  since  the  hospitals  are  crowded  and  the 
beds  therefore  insufficient  in  number,  prostitutes  are 
obliged  to  leave  before  they  are  cured syphilis  is  there 
kept  “ at  least  three  weeks,”  gonorrhoea  “ at  least 
two.” 65  At  Stockholm,  174  women  with  primary 
symptoms  were  detained  an  average  of  48  days  each; 
140  with  secondary  symptoms  an  average  of  35  days 
each.66  Partially  in  consequence  of  premature  dismissal, 
partially  in  consequence  of  re-infection  or  recrudescence, 
women  often  alternate  for  years  between  freedom  and 
hospital  detention.  Of  498  Stockholm  inscribed  prosti- 
tutes, 81  escaped  the  hospital  altogether  while  on  the 
lists.  The  following  table  shows  the  experience  of  the 
others : 67 


No.  in  hospital 


CO 

CO 

<v 

a 

to 

CO 

<u 

to 

<u 

CO 

a> 

8 

CO 

0 

B 

CO 

<L> 

<L> 

B 

a 

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42 

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37 

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63  Quoted  by  Schmolder,  loc.  cit.,  p.  17. 

64  Gruber,  loc.  cit.,  p.  28. 

65  “ Public  Safety.”  May  29,  1912,  etc. 

66  Johansson,  loc.  cit.,  p.  155. 

67  Ibid,  p.  124;  ditto,  p.  37. 


237 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

In  Bremen  it  is  now  the  practice  to  detain  gonorrhoeal 
patients  from  three  to  six  weeks;  syphilitics  were  re- 
ceiving at  the  time  of  my  visit68  two  injections  of  Sal- 
varsan  and  were  discharged  at  the  end  of  a fortnight. 
Finally,  at  Berlin  the  average  length  of  the  hospital  stay 
of  venereally  diseased  prostitutes  has  tended  steadily 
to  decline  as  the  following  figures  indicate : 69 


Year  Average  stay  of  each  prostitute 

1895- 6  36.4  days 

1896- 7  32.2  days 

1897- 8  36.8  days 

1898- 9  36.4  days 

1 900- 1  39.5  days 

1901- 2  48.8  days 

1902- 3  36.7  days 

1903- 4  41.0  days 

1908- 9  23.0  days 

1909- 10 19.91  days 

1910- 11 19.6  days 

1911- 12 22.0  days 


The  sudden  drop  since  1907  follows  the  introduction 
on  a considerable  scale  of  ambulatory  treatment,  allowed 
theoretically  on  condition  that  the  women  refrain  from 
the  prosecution  of  their  business, — an  obviously  unsafe 
calculation.  It  is  clear  therefore  that  at  all  times  the 
period  of  detention  is  too  brief;  hospital  care  goes  far 
enough  to  remove  the  obvious  evidence  of  disease, — the 
evidence  that  might,  if  left  untouched,  itself  deter  a more 
or  less  cautious  patron.  Disease  being  once  rendered 
latent,  or  apparently  latent,70  the  customer  presumes,  at 

68  June,  1912. 

69  For  these  valuable  statistics  I am  again  indebted  to  the  courtesy 
of  Professor  Pinkus. 

70  If  gonorrhoea,  it  is  not  the  less  dangerous  on  that  account;  in 
case  of  syphilis,  as  I have  previously  remarked,  if  actually  latent  it 
is  not  infectious ; if  just  supposedly  latent,  as  is  apt  to  be  the 
case,  the  danger  is  extreme. 

238 


Regulation  and  Disease 

his  own  sure  cost,  on  the  supposed  safety  of  the  woman 
whom  medical  regulation  has  just  discharged  from  the 
hospital  as  fit  to  prosecute  her  calling. 

Even  if  we  take  regulation  at  its  word  and  assume 
that  it  is  fairly  successful  in  isolating  disease,  it  still  re- 
mains true  that  it  arrests  more  healthy  than  diseased 
prostitutes  and  thus  increases  the  commerce  of  the  unde- 
tected sick, — professional  or  clandestine.  For  the  num- 
ber of  supposedly  well  prostitutes  arrested  for  trifling 
violations  of  the  rules  is  always  larger,  indeed  much 
larger,  than  the  number  of  ill  ones.  In  Paris,  35,625 
such  arrests  were  made  in  1897,  32>122  'm  1898.  The 
culprits,  most  of  them  well  according  to  police  standards, 
were  sent  to  prison  to  serve  short  sentences,  for  “ ra- 
colage  ” (soliciting).  I observed  the  handling  of  a group 
of  such  cases : a girl  found  in  the  Avenue  Wagram  at  1.30 
A.  m.  pronounced  “ well,”  got  4 days  in  prison;  the  next 
had  just  four  hours  previously  finished  a four-day  sen- 
tence ; re-arrested  last  night  for  loitering  and  sent  back  for 
four  days  more.  The  others  were  of  the  same  type : all 
were  “ well  ” and  all  were  sent  to  prison.  Blaschko 
found  the  same  conditions  prevailing  in  Berlin  under 
the  old  regime:  13,591  healthy  prostitutes  were  im- 
prisoned for  “ ridiculous  trifles  ” in  the  years  1897-98, 
while  1,998  diseased  prostitutes  were  under  compulsory 
treatment : 71  that  is,  regulation  removed  seven  times  as 
many  healthy  prostitutes  as  diseased.  In  1909,  1,122 
different  registered  women  were  arrested  for  violation 
of  rules,  327  different  registered  women  were  detained 
on  the  score  of  illness;  in  1910  and  1911  the  figures  were 

71Loc.  cit.}  p.  89. 


239 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

1,984  and  434  respectively.72  In  Stockholm,  at  the  close 
of  1911,  28  women  were  in  the  hospital,  127  — sup- 
posedly well  — in  prison.  In  Cologne,  438  registered 
prostitutes  were  detained  on  the  score  of  disease,  1,334 
for  violation  of  rules,  in  1906;  in  1911,  272  for  disease, 
2,066  for  infraction  of  regulations.73 

I have  thus  far  dealt  with  registered  prostitution 
alone:  in  reference  to  it,  I believe  we  are  justified  in  as- 
serting that  the  numbers  treated  have  nowhere  been  rel- 
atively large  and  that  the  methods  of  conducting  the 
examinations  and  their  actual  working  greatly  reduce 
even  the  apparent  efficacy  of  the  system.  In  Stockholm 
it  has  been  calculated  that  three-fourths  of  the  disease 
current  escapes  detection.74  It  is  therefore  an  incon- 
trovertible fact  that  only  a small  part  of  the  disease  in 
existence  among  inscribed  women  has  been  isolated  and 
that  these  diseased  women  have  been  discharged  before 
they  are  very  much  safer:  in  consequence  of  which,  men 
consorting  with  medically  inspected  prostitutes  are  the 
victims  of  misplaced  confidence.  If,  then,  regulation, 
on  account  of  the  general  attitude  it  encourages  and  on 
account  of  the  feeling  of  security  it  must  logically  create, 
has  at  all  enlarged  the  volume  of  irregular  intercourse, 
it  has  operated  to  increase,  not  to  decrease,  the  volume 
of  venereal  disease. 

So  much  for  regulation  taken  fairly  and  strictly  on  its 
own  ground.  But  the  case  against  it  is  greatly  strength- 
ened when  the  remaining  factors  of  the  situation  are 
taken  into  account.  Regulation  has  always  had  to  be 

72  Police  report,  1911,  p.  72. 

73  Personal  communications  by  officials. 

74  Report,  Swedish  Commission,  Vol  III,  p.  132. 

240 


Regulation  and  Disease 

cautious  in  the  inscription  of  minors  and  nowadays  tends 
more  and  more  to  omit  them  altogether.  It  is  held  — 
and  of  course  rightly  — that  no  civilized  society  can  per- 
mit a minor  to  brand  herself  as  a professional  prosti- 
tute, authorized  by  the  community  to  earn  her  liveli- 
hood as  such.  Now,  immoral  girls  still  in  their  minority 
are  at  once  the  most  attractive  and  the  most  dangerous 
prostitutes;  ignorant  and  reckless,  they  are  quickly  in- 
fected and  their  infection  is  distributed  to  a larger 
clientele.  How  many  infecting  foci  escape  sanitary  con- 
trol by  the  exclusion  of  minors  a few  figures  will  make 
clear.  Out  of  4,341  cases  of  obviously  infectious  syph- 
ilis in  Viennese  prostitutes,  44.9  per  cent,  were  between  15 
and  20  years  of  age,  38.1  per  cent,  between  21  and  25.75 
The  chief  physician  of  the  Vienna  police  in  1908  gave 
a most  striking  proof  of  the  collapse  brought  about  by 
excepting  minors  from  regulation, — as  he  admitted  must 
be  the  case:  in  1900,  329  prostitutes  were  newly  enrolled, 
303  of  whom  (9 2.2%)  were  between  15  and  25  years  of 
age : in  that  year,  2,686  cases  of  venereal  disease  were 
detected  among  inscribed  women.  In  1907,  83  prosti- 
tutes were  newly  enrolled,  of  whom  63  were  between  15 
and  25  years  old : 426  venereal  cases  were  discovered  in 
that  year.  “ In  the  same  measure  as  the  enrolment  of 
minors  declines,  the  total  amount  of  disease  discovered 
declines  correspondingly.”  76  In  the  relatively  few  in- 
stances in  which  minors  are  still  inscribed  at  Berlin,  the 
percentage  of  active  gonorrhoea  detected  by  the  micro- 

75  Neisser  in  Zeitschrift  I,  p.  255. 

76  Zeitschrift  IX,  p.  194.  The  fact  is  striking  even  though  in 
my  judgment  certain  factors  affecting  the  result  have  been  over- 
looked. 


241 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

scope  is  very  high : of  38  controlled  girls  between  18  and 
20  years  of  age,  29,  i.  e.,  75%  were  discovered  to 
have  gonorrhoea.77  Penzig  declares  that  of  prostitutes 
under  18,  fully  '50%  are  venereally  infected.  Pinkus, 
studying  1,357  inscribed  prostitutes  at  Berlin  found 
that  at  least  624,  i.  e.,  45.9%  had  been  syphilitically  in- 
fected before  enrolment.78  Paris  statistics  teach  the 
same  lesson:  of  12,615  unregistered  minors  arrested  be- 
tween 1878  and  1887,  56.26%  were  syphilitic.79  More 
recent  statistics  sustain  this  result  showing,  as  is  claimed, 
that  active  disease  is  “ ten  times  as  common  ” among  the 
unregistered  minors  as  among  the  older  women  who  are 
inscribed.80  In  Zurich,  39 .7%  of  the  syphilitics  de- 
scribed by  Muller  and  Ziircher  were  between  12  and  17 
years  of  age,  42%  between  16  and  21  years  old;  of  those 
over  26  years  old,  very  few  indeed  showed  active  signs 
of  the  disease,  proving  “ the  well-known  saying,  that  the 
prostitute  becomes  syphilitically  infected  at  the  very  out- 
set of  her  career.”  81  Roget  at  Brussels  verifies  this 
conclusion;  he  states  that  most  infections  occur  between 
16  and  22. 82  At  Munich,  of  2,686  clandestines  arrested 
and  medically  examined,  71 1 were  found  diseased,  and 
of  these,  326,  i.  e.,  over  50%  were  minors.  That  is  to 
say,  even  assuming  forcible  inscription  of  adults,  over 
50%  of  the  diseased  would  have  been  missed  as  the  suf- 

77  Privately  communicated  by  official  physician. 

78  Loc.  cit.,  p.  50. 

79  Commenge,  p.  235.  These  arrests  are  made  on  the  score  of 
disorder,  not  of  suspected  disease.  Minors  who  behave  go  on  with 
impunity.  This  is  made  clear  below. 

80  Zeitschrift  VIII,  p.  301. 

81  Zeitschrift  XIV,  pp.  234-5. 

82  Zeitschrift  X,  p.  108. 


Regulation  and  Disease 

ferers  were  ineligible  to  enrolment  on  account  of  age. 
Of  88  such  cases,  55  per  cent,  of  those  15  years  old  were 
infected,  61  per  cent,  of  those  16  years  old,  and  67  per 
cent,  of  those  17  years  old.83  A Viennese  estimate 
showed  that  out  of  every  1,000  prostitutes  arrested  for 
offences,  over  57  per  cent,  were  minors, — practically  in- 
eligible to  inscription  and  medical  control.  Infection 
takes  place  so  early  that  it  is  believed  that  in  general 
“ every  prostitute  who  has  followed  the  business  a year  is 
infected.”  84  Regulation  is  therefore  in  the  position  of 
creating  a certain  presumption  in  favor  of  the  hygienic 
security  of  irregular  intercourse;  even  if  it  could  create  a 
monopoly  in  favor  of  inscribed  women,  there  would  be  no 
reason  to  believe  in  its  efficacy ; but  as  the  appetite  that  it 
fosters  satisfies  itself  indiscriminately,  the  result  is  that 
bad  is  simply  rendered  worse. 

One  arrives  at  the  same  conclusion  from  another  angle. 
I have  repeatedly  pointed  out  that  on  any  rational  defini- 
tion of  prostitution  the  total  army  of  prostitutes  is  many 
times  as  large  as  the  registered  portion.  Most  of  these 
women  ply  their  business  unhindered.  Having  had  pre- 
cisely the  same  history  as  the  registered  women  and  con- 
ducting their  affairs  with  similar  promiscuity,  disease  is 
of  course  equalfy  rife  among  them.  Yet,  as  long  as  they 
conduct  themselves  with  discretion  they  are  free  from 
police  interference:  in  towns  where  compulsory  enrol- 
ment takes  place  (e.  g.  Berlin  and  Hamburg,  etc.)  they 
must  be  thrice  warned  before  they  are  arrested  and  com- 

83  Miinchener  medizinische  Wochenschrift,  January  7,  1913,  pp. 
12,  13. 

84  Zeitschrift  VIII,  pp.  399-400. 


243 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

pelled  to  submit  to  medical  examination,  with  a chance 
of  compulsory  registration;  elsewhere,  as  at  Bremen, 
Munich,  Stuttgart,  etc.,  they  are,  if  arrested  for  disorder, 
medically  inspected,  but  are  in  no  event  compelled  by 
forced  inscription  to  submit  to  regular  examination  after- 
wards. Thus  only  the  disorderly  clandestine  or  non-in- 
scribed  woman  is  ever  anywhere  inspected  at  all.  The 
cautious  street-walker  and  fashionable  and  showy  women 
who  in  Berlin  frequent  the  Palais  de  Danse  85  are  never 
inscribed,  despite  their  notorious  character.  Women  of 
the  latter  type  are,  in  fact,  nowhere  enrolled;  yet  they 
do  a large  business,  dangerous  not  so  much  on  account 
of  syphilis,  which  is  with  them  long  since  a matter  of  the 
past,  as  on  account  of  gonorrhoea,  from  which  they  are 
chronic  sufferers.  How  much  disease  regulation  in  one 
way  or  another  thus  permits  to  go  untouched  among  the 
non-inscribed  is  made  clear  by  the  amount  of  disease  de- 
tected among  the  small  part  of  clandestine  or  non-regis- 
tered  prostitution  that  the  police  lay  hold  of.  A single 
clinical  examination  of  each  of  12,825  non-inscribed 
women  arrested  in  Berlin  in  five  successive  years  (1903- 
1907  inclusive)  showed  17%  venereally  diseased;86  of 
1,514  arrested  in  1909  and  1910,  421  were  diseased.87 
At  Cologne,  the  percentage  is  much  higher:  660  non-in- 
scribed women  were  arrested  in  1906,  178  were  infected; 
1,626  were  arrested  in  1911,  304  were  infected.88  At 
Vienna,  1,319  such  arrests  were  made  in  1910:  222  cases 

85  It  is  said  that  managers  of  enterprises  of  this  character  re- 
quire the  habituees  to  employ  private  physicians  to  keep  them  ad- 
vised as  to  their  condition. 

86  Pinkus,  loc.  cit.,  p.  71. 

87  Police  Report,  loc.  cit.,  p.  72. 

88  Personally  communicated  by  officials. 

244 


Regulation  and  Disease 

of  infection  were  discovered  among  them.89  It  must 
be  emphasized  that  the  police  surgeons  get  hold  of  these 
women,  not  because  they  are  diseased,  but  because  they 
are  disorderly.  Had  they  remained  sober  and  quiet, 
regulation  would  have  permitted  them  to  continue  undis- 
turbed in  the  work  of  spreading  infection,  precisely  as  it 
does  not  touch  the  thousands  of  others,  who,  however 
diseased,  are  careful  to  keep  the  peace.  The  amount  of 
disease  thus  surprised  is  interesting  as  a symptom  of  the 
vastly  larger  amount  that  wholly  eludes  observation; 
and,  finally,  the  disease  thus  detected  is  — like  the  dis- 
ease occurring  among  inscribed  women  — but  a part  of 
that  actually  existing  among  those  examined;  and,  like 
all  the  rest,  is  readmitted  to  circulation  while  still  in- 
fectious after  an  inadequate  period  of  detention.  An 
incident  related  by  Welander  may  well  close  this  line  of 
argument.  “ It  is  superfluous  to  mention/’  he  writes  in 
his  account  of  venereal  disease  and  prostitution  in 
Sweden,  “ that  the  clandestines  are  the  main  sources  of 
infection.  Recently  there  has  been  a small  epidemic  of 
soft  chancre  in  Stockholm.  Daily,  male  patients  thus 
afflicted  are  admitted  to  the  St.-Goran  Hospital ; 
but  the  hospital  for  prostitutes,  during  this  entire  period, 
has  received  only  five  women  thus  infected.  This  epi- 
demic cannot  be  attributed  to  inscribed  women,”  90  and, 
further,  he  might  have  added,  inscription  did  not  locate 
or  isolate  the  infecting  foci. 

89  For  the  statistics  of  arrests  of  inscribed  women  and  the  re- 
sults of  their  medical  examination  in  German  cities,  see  Zeit- 
schrift  XII,  p.  7.  Also,  Pinkus,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  72,  73)  Zeitschrift  X, 
p.  108;  ibid,  XIV,  pp.  236-7.  For  Stockholm,  Report , Swedish 
Commission,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  30. 

90  Zeitschrift  XI,  p.  417. 


245 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

I have,  at  the  risk  of  being  tedious,  discussed  the  fore- 
going points  in  considerable  detail  in  order  that  we  might 
be  in  position  to  decide  whether  — whatever  may  be  held 
theoretically  as  to  the  possibilities  of  regulation  — it  has 
in  the  past  operated  to  reduce  the  amount  of  venereal 
disease.  Let  it  be  remembered  that,  except  in  three  or 
four  cities  shortly  to  be  taken  up,  regulation  throughout 
Europe  has  been  and  is  of  the  type  above  described  or 
worse,  and  that  in  the  three  or  four  cities  in  question, 
improvements  are  so  recent  that  no  effect  is  as  yet 
noticeable.  Whatever,  then,  one  may  hold  as  a mat- 
ter of  theory,  it  is  clear  that,  as  a matter  of  practice,  regu- 
lation as  it  has  been  carried  on  during  the  past  century 
has  increased,  not  decreased,  the  volume  of  venereal  dis- 
ease. No  successful  experience  in  the  past  can  anywhere 
be  quoted  in  its  behalf.  Those  who  believe  in  its  possi- 
bilities are  loudest  in  condemning  its  actual  results.  Pro- 
fessor Finger  of  Vienna,  a regulationist,  so-called,  and 
one  of  the  authors  of  the  recent  improvements  there,  says 
of  the  usual  system : “ As  far  as  the  good  of  regulation 

goes,  I can  speak  from  experience : the  good  can’t  possi- 
bly amount  to  much.”  91  Professor  Neisser  of  Breslau, 
the  discoverer  of  the  gonococcus, — a regulationist,  too 
— declares : “If  a radical  reconstruction  cannot  be 

brought  about,  it  is  better  to  drop  the  entire  system.  The 
present  system  not  only  does  not  effect  a real  sanitary 
control  of  the  inscribed  women, — it  rather  operates  to 
increase  the  volume  of  venereal  disease.”  92  Professor 

91  Zeitschrift  IX,  p.  230.  It  is  to  be  remarked  that  all  those 
quoted  above  are  avowed  regulationists  and  all  are  men  of  inter- 
national eminence. 

92  Zeitschrift  I,  p.  198. 


246 


Regulation  and  Disease 

Zinnser,  of  Cologne,  likewise  a regulationist,  opens  a dis- 
cussion with  these  words.  “ The  knowledge  that  the 
regulation  of  prostitution  as  generally  conducted  hereto- 
fore is  obsolete,  defective  and  urgently  in  need  of  re- 
form, is  not  new.”  93  The  Hamburg  system,  in  the  form 
in  which  I have  above  discussed  it,  is  the  creation  of  Dr. 
Julius  Engel-Reimers,  whose  authority  in  Hamburg  was, 
during  his  lifetime,  so  great  as  practically  to  render  criti- 
cism futile.  Nevertheless  in  a volume  of  lectures  on 
venereal  disease,  published  in  1908,  Dr.  Engel-Reimers, 
at  the  close  of  a career  identified  with  regulation,  de- 
clares : “ Medical  control  of  prostitutes  has  very  slight 

influence  on  the  incidence  of  syphilis  and  gonorrhoea 
among  the  male  population.  It  is  absolutely  clear  that 
these  diseases  are  no  less  common  where  regulation  ex- 
ists than  in  places  where  prostitutes  enjoy  unrestrained 
freedom  to  ply  their  trade.”  95  This  is  assuredly  candid, 
as  well  as  startling  testimony.  As  to  the  point  here 
touched  on,  viz.,  the  incidence  of  venereal  disease  in  the 
general  population,  as  far  as  it  can  be  made  out,  I shall 
have  something  to  say  when  I discuss  conditions  in  non- 
regulated  countries.95  For  the  present  it  is  enough  to 
note  that  the  authorities  above  quoted  — and  the  num- 
ber can  be  extended  — all  call  themselves  regulationists ; 
but  it  is  some  new  form  of  regulation,  not  regulation  as 
it  exists  historically,  that  they  believe  in.  Those  who  de- 
fend the  system  and  its  results  against  the  regulationist 
medical  authorities  above  quoted  are  in  the  main  police 

93  Zeitschrift  VIII,  p.  413. 

94  Julius  Engel-Reimers:  Die  Geschlechtskrankheiten  (Ham- 
burg, 1908),  p.  83. 

95  See  Chap.  X. 

247 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

officials,  whose  favorable  judgment  will  be  accounted  for 
in  the  next  chapter.96 

If  regulation  has,  even  in  the  opinion  of  authorities 
theoretically  inclined  to  believe  in  it,  failed  in  the  past,  is 
there  any  evidence  to  support  an  opinion  favorable  to  it 
in  some  revised  form  in  the  future?  In  certain  cities, 
the  medical  examination  has  been  reconstructed  on 
modern  lines, — Berlin,  Budapest,  Bremen  and  Dresden ; 
the  same  modifications  and  improvements  could  be  gen- 
erally introduced  if  money  and  intelligence  — both  pro- 
curable— were  provided.  Would  regulation  then  be  ef- 
ficacious as  a sanitary  measure? 

Let  me  call  attention  at  the  outset  to  the  peculiar  posi- 
tion in  which  the  system  is  placed  the  moment  one  asks 
this  question.  It  implies  that  regulation  is  not  a policy 
more  or  less  approved  by  experience,  but  an  experiment, 
the  value  of  which  as  a possibility  has  nowhere  as  yet 
been  demonstrated.  So  far  as  history  goes,  the  verdict 
is  against  its  efficacy ; so  far  as  the  revised  system  is  con- 
cerned, not  even  those  trying  it  as  yet  pretend  to  be  able 
to  assert  for  it  any  perceptible  measure  of  success.  “ I 
must  note  at  the  very  outset,”  says  the  candid  police  bac- 
teriologist of  Budapest  as  recently  as  May  29,  1912, 
“ that  the  time  which  has  elapsed  since  the  new  or- 
dinance has  been  in  force  is  as  yet  entirely  too  short 
for  us  to  render  a final  opinion  concerning  its  advan- 
tages.” 97  “ There  is  no  telling  whether  the  new  regu- 

96  A prominent  lay  official  of  the  Berlin  police,  Dr.  Lindenau, 
candidly  admits : “ A usable  set  of  statistics  as  to  the  effect  of 
sanitary  regulations  is  not  to  be  had.”  (From  “ Die  strafrecht - 
liche  Bekdmpfung  der  Gewerbsunzucht.) 

97  hoc.  cit.,  p.  2. 


248 


Regulation  and  Disease 

lations  have  accomplished  anything,”  said  one  of  their 
authors,  Dr.  Dumitreanu  Agoston,  to  me.  Regulation 
in  its  historic  form  is  thus  something  worse  than  a fail- 
ure; in  its  modern  form,  an  experiment,  of  whose  suc- 
cess not  even  its  authors  can  give  any  evidence  or  ven- 
ture any  prediction! 

Is  there  any  substantial  reason  to  believe  that  the 
improved  system  will  successfully  cope  with  the  diffi- 
culties fatal  to  the  old?  The  number  that  it  reaches  is 
less  rather  than  more.  Under  the  clumsy  old  system, 
Berlin  enrolled  5,098  women  in  1896;  under  the  im- 
proved new  system,  3,559  in  1912, — a decrease  of  over 
30%,  despite  the  city’s  growth;  under  the  old  system, 
Dresden  enrolled  394  in  1905 ; under  the  new,  293  in 
1912;  at  Budapest,  the  numbers  are  practically  un- 
changed. The  increased  leniency  and  humanity  of  the 
new  system  thus  decrease  enrolment  and  tend  to  off- 
set any  advantage  gained  by  improved  medical  methods. 

Nor  does  the  new  system  enjoy  any  advantage  over 
the  old  in  other  important  respects.  Women  continue 
to  miss  visits  and  to  disappear:  at  Budapest,  for  ex- 
ample, with  an  enrolment  of  2,000,  the  monthly  non- 
attendance  in  1912  ran  as  follows:1 


March  

293 

June  

3i5 

April  

353 

July  

4i4 

May  

398 

August  

319 

Finally,  the  sick  are  not  detained  for  longer  periods 
of  time : indeed,  ambulatory  treatment  is  more  apt  to  be 
allowed  as  the  administration  of  the  system  becomes 
more  lenient,  and  thus  additional  loopholes  are  created, 

1 Personally  communicated  by  officials. 

249 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

These  are,  however,  matters  of  detail  on  which  it  is 
not  worth  while  to  pause  longer.  The  issue  turns  mainly 
on  the  effect  of  the  partial  use  of  the  microscope, — at 
least  once  in  two  weeks  at  Berlin,  on  suspicion  in  other 
places.  How  far-reaching  is  the  improvement  thus 
wrought  among  the  small  number  of  women  affected 
by  it? 

In  respect  to  syphilis,  the  situation  is  hardly  modified 
at  all,  except  in  so  far  as  the  general  quality  of  the 
personnel  has  unquestionably  been  improved  by  the  in- 
troduction of  more  modern  methods  and  a more  dignified 
environment.  But  these  factors  are  not  far-reaching. 
The  inscribed  women  have  either  had  syphilis  before  in- 
scription, in  which  event  no  check  was  placed  on  them 
at  the  time;  or  they  contract  it  subsequently,  in  which 
case  they  are  interned  only  until  the  active  ulceration 
has  been  converted  to  more  or  less  latency,  without  cer- 
tain termination  of  the  infectious  character  of  the  dis- 
ease. The  scope  of  improved  regulation  in  dealing  with 
inscribed  syphilitics  is  thus  practically  as  limited  as  that 
of  the  older  form;  it  has  no  definite  or  reliable  effect 
during  the  dangerous  primary  and  secondary  stages  and 
is,  of  course,  unnecessary  in  the  tertiary  stage. 

For  the  reasons  just  urged,  neo-regulation  concerns 
itself  mainly  with  gonorrhoea.  Figures  already  given  2 
show  that  the  moment  the  use  of  the  microscope  begins, 
the  amount  of  gonorrhoea  detected  increases;  indeed, 
the  more  slides  one  prepares  in  dealing  with  a group 
of  women  at  a single  inspection,  the  higher  the  percent- 


2 Pages  231-2. 


250 


Regulation  and  Disease 

age  of  infectious  subjects.  Whether  gonorrhoea  is  dis- 
covered in  a prostitute  or  not  is  largely  a question  of 
the  microscopist’s  patience : “ the  oftener  microscopical 
examinations  are  made,  the  more  girls  are  found  dis- 
eased.” Lochte  examined  172  girls  once  each,  when  19.1 
per  cent,  gave  positive  evidence  of  gonococci;  on  a sec- 
ond trial,  twice  as  many  (38.6  per  cent.).  Different  in- 
vestigators have  discovered  that  from  50  to  65  per  cent, 
of  inscribed  women  carry  the  gonococcus  hidden  in 
glands  or  folds.3  Ten  successive  daily  examinations 
of  a former  servant  gave  negative  results  for  5 days, 
positive  on  the  fifth  and  seventh,  negative,  sixth,  eighth, 
ninth,  and  tenth.  Instances  are  known  in  which  the 
disease  has  been  contracted  by  a patron  from  a woman 
in  whom  the  microscope  was  unable  to  demonstrate  the 
gonococcus.  The  explanation  is  obvious.  When  the 
germs  are  less  numerous,  it  is  a matter  of  chance 
whether  the  infinitesimal  amount  of  the  secretion  ex- 
amined happens  to  contain  a sample  or  not;  but  infec- 
tiousness exists  none  the  less.  The  microscopist  may 
not  encounter  it ; the  customer  may.  In  order  to  reduce 
chances  of  error,  negative  findings  on  three  successive 
days  are  required  before  release;  but  Professor  Pinkus 
told  me  of  women  released  from  the  hospital  on  these 
terms  in  the  morning  who  — without  intercourse  in  the 
meanwhile  — • gave  positive  specimens  at  the  police  ex- 
amination in  the  afternoon.  Besides,  under  sexual  ex- 
citement, the  gonococcus  that  has  burrowed  more  deeply 

3 Moller,  “1st  eine  Gonorrhoekontrolle  moglich?”  Zeitschrift  VI, 
P-  233. 


251 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

is  all  the  more  apt  to  be  exuded.  The  explanation  is 
simple : “ Gonorrhoea  in  the  male  is  almost  invariably 

curable,  if  the  patient  submits  to  treatment;  gonorrhoea 
in  the  female  is  almost  never  cured  at  all.”  4 And  again : 
“ Every  prostitute,  even  though  not  acutely  and  violently 
diseased,  is  always  more  or  less  infectious  and  not  the 
least  confidence  in  her  freedom  from  gonorrhoea  can 
be  justified.”  5 A chronic  condition  supervenes  that  is 
always  infectious, — 'and  most  of  all  so  during  inter- 
course. Professor  Havas  of  Budapest,  long  the  head  of 
the  hospital  service  to  which  diseased  prostitutes  were 
sent,  a regulationist  at  first,  and  now  a strenuous  opponent 
thereof  on  the  basis  of  experience,  refused  to  certify 
released  women  as  “ well  ” ; he  struck  the  word  from 
the  woman’s  protocol  and  inserted  “ improved  ” ; but  in 
the  “ improved  ” condition,  the  danger  of  communicating 
infection  is  always  present. 

All  that  I have  just  urged  would  be  true  even  if  the 
microscope  were  constantly  used.  But,  as  a matter  of 
fact,  even  where  neo-regulation  is  most  systematically  in- 
stalled, the  labor  and  the  time  involved  are  so  enormous 
that  it  has  proved  impracticable  to  institute  anything  be- 
yond occasional  microscopical  control.6  What  does  the 
fortnightly  microscopic  slide  in  Berlin  prove?  That  at 
two  moments  in  the  course  of  a month,  a random  shot 
failed  to  elicit  positive  proof  of  infectiousness!  Dur- 
ing two  weeks,  the  utterly  incompetent  clinical  examina- 

4 Pinkus  loc.  cit.,  p.  86.  Some  physicians  hold  that  the  latter  part 
of  this  statement  is  perhaps  too  sweeping,  but  all  are  agreed  that 
gonorrhoea  in  the  female  is  infinitely  more  stubborn  than  in  the 
male  and  that  gonorrhoea  in  prostitutes  is  practically  never  cured. 

6 Ibid,  p.  gi. 

6Guth  admits  this,  loc . cit.,  p.  n.  See  also  Zeitschrift  II,  p.  106. 

252 


Regulation  and  Disease 

tion  alone  threatens  the  woman’s  withdrawal  from  busi- 
ness; should  she  be  even  palpably  infected,  she  may 
easily  be  allowed  to  continue  the  distribution  of  gono- 
cocci during  this  period.  At  the  close  of  two  weeks, 
her  chances  of  detention  momentarily  increase.  Yet, 
even  so,  the  numbers  at  any  time  interned  show  the  in- 
adequacy of  the  method  to  reach  and  to  isolate  any  con- 
siderable volume  of  infection.  During  four  months  — 
December  1910;  January  February  and  March  19 11  — 
809  cases  of  gonorrhoeal  infection  were  discovered  among 
the  registered  prostitutes  at  Berlin : 7 that  is,  on  the 
average,  the  number  of  women  in  circulation  was  re- 
duced about  200  per  month.  On  the  last  day  of  four 
successive  years  (1908-9-10-1 1)  the  total  number  of  in- 
terned prostitutes  was  as  follows:  98,  105,  140,  242.8 
In  the  other  towns  where  the  improved  system  is  in 
use,  its  inadequacy  is  equally  striking.  At  the  time  of 
my  visit  to  Dresden  (June  19,  1912),  9 inscribed  and 
27  non-inscribed  women  were  in  the  venereal  hospital 
ward;  at  Bremen  there  is  an  average  of  18  to  20  pa- 
tients of  all  kinds.  All  this  is  well-nigh  negligible  even 
when  compared  only  with  the  total  inscription;  when 
viewed  in  connection  with  the  total  amount  of  prostitu- 
tion and  disease,  it  is  not  worth  mention. 

It  is,  of  course,  urged  that,  be  the  number  removed 
and  temporarily  confined  ever  so  small,  infection  is  at 
least  reduced  by  that  amount.  The  argument  holds  only 
in  case  the  number  removed  is  large  enough  to  affect 
the  accessibility  of  temptation.  Ten  women  in  a 

7 Privately  communicated  at  headquarters. 

8 Personally  communicated  by  officials. 


253 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

bordell  will,  for  example,  satisfy  all  the  customers  who 
come;  if  one  is  withdrawn  — and  the  percentage  with- 
drawn by  medical  inspection  is  by  no  means  so  large  — * 
the  remaining  nine  will  dispose  of  the  same  volume  of 
trade.  The  amount  of  congress  is  therefore  hardly  af- 
fected: is  the  amount  of  disease  reduced?  That  de- 
pends on  the  condition  of  the  nine  with  whom  the  busi- 
ness is  transacted.  Similarly,  on  the  streets : two 
hundred  women  are  withdrawn  from  the  streets  of  Ber- 
lin, on  which  every  evening  thousands  of  others  roam. 
The  provocation  is  not  perceptibly  influenced.  Let  us 
follow  what  happens  to  a prospective  customer.  A 
woman  — Marie,  let  us  say  — to  whose  solicitations 
some  man  would  have  succumbed,  is  in  the  hospital. 
Is  her  clientele  so  attached  to  her  that  they  will  abstain 
until  she  is  released?  If  so,  undoubtedly,  there  being 
less  congress,  there  is  less  disease  in  that  interval.  But 
the  traffic  is  not  organized  in  that  way.  Marie’s  cus- 
tomers are  picked  up  by  Gretchen  or  by  some  one  else. 
Does  the  withdrawal  of  250  women  reduce  disease,  if  it 
involves  only  redistributing  business  so  that  what  would 
have  been  intercourse  with  the  interned  Marie  is  trans- 
ferred to  others? 

That  depends  on  the  condition  of  the  other  women. 
Are  they  safe?  The  vast  clandestine  army  not  hy- 
gienically  supervised  is  no  safer  than  it  would  be  if 
there  were  no  medical  regulation;  and  this  army  is  so 
large  a proportion  of  the  whole  that  we  may  declare  at 
once  that  the  effect  of  removing  a controlled  prostitute 
is  to  force  her  business  largely  upon  prostitutes  who  are 
uncontrolled;  and  the  latter  are  so  numerous  and  prom- 

254 


Regulation  and  Disease 

inent  that  the  business  is  kept  to  the  maximum  per- 
mitted by  general  conditions,  regardless  of  the  forced 
isolation  of  an  inconsiderable  number.  Those  of 
Marie’s  customers  who  fall  to  controlled  prostitutes  are 
hardly  likely  to  fare  better, — for  the  controlled  prostitute 
is  suffering  with  a chronic  cervical  gonorrhoea  which 
any  customer  may  contract.  When  150  inscribed  women 
are  withdrawn  from  the  roll  of  3,000,  all  having  gonor- 
rhoea in  some  form,  when  70  women  are  withdrawn 
from  the  uninscribed  thousands,  mostly  infected,  the 
good  luck  of  a patron  may  save  him  once  or  twice  with 
or  without  regulation,  but  sooner  or  later  he  will  fall 
a victim. 

The  amount  of  disease  communicated  and  contracted 
is,  therefore,  in  the  long  run,  dependent  not  on  the  ex- 
istence or  the  non-existence  of  medical  inspection,  but 
011  the  frequency  and  amount  of  irregular  intercourse. 
Professor  Havas,  in  discussing  with  me  the  Budapest  sit- 
uation, urged  vehemently  that  there  is  but  one  factor 
to  be  reckoned  with,  viz.,  the  amount  of  promiscuous 
coitus.  Whatsoever  reduces  such  coitus,  reduces  dis- 
ease: a rainy  night,  driving  women  and  men  from  the 
streets,  an  outburst  of  police  repression,  do  more  to 
check  disease  than  any  system  of  regulation;  on  the 
other  hand,  regulation,  by  making  controlled  — and  in 
consequence  uncontrolled  — prostitution  prominent,  by 
weakening  the  inhibitions,  social,  individual  and  hygienic, 
increases  the  amount  of  coitus  and  thereby  increases 
the  amount  of  disease.  It  is  surely  not  without  signifi- 
cance that  Professor  Pinkus,  head  of  the  hospital  for 
venereally  infected  prostitutes,  has  published  a book, 

255 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

called  the  “ Prevention  of  Venereal  Disease,1 ” in  which 
he  emphasizes  the  infectiousness  of  all  prostitutes,  con- 
trolled as  well  as  uncontrolled,  and  bids  his  readers  refrain 
or  utilize  mechanical  preventives  for  their  protection ! 

It  is  therefore  not  surprising  to  find  how  frequently 
afflicted  men  in  regulated  cities  refer  their  infection  to 
professional  prostitutes.  Pinkus,  inquiring  of  2,512 
male  patients,  traced  1,571  cases  (62.54  per  cent.)  to 
prostitutes,  of  whom  1,350  (52.74  per  cent.)  were  pro- 
fessionals.9 Of  661  infections  in  Stockholm,  297  could 
be  traced  to  their  sources:  15 1,  or  over  50  per  cent., 
were  known  to  come  from  inscribed  women.10  Deal- 
ing with  102  infected  gymnasial  students,  Meirowski 
traced  little  less  than  half  to  registered  women.11 

Does  the  foregoing  condemnation  of  sanitary  control 
apply  to  the  bordell  inmates  as  well  as  to  scattered  prosti- 
tutes? Or  does  the  medically  regulated  bordell  offer  an 
increasing  measure  of  hygienic  protection?  Assuredly 
not  on  the  score  of  more  thorough  medical  examination. 
In  so  far  as  the  inspection  takes  place  in  the  bordell, 
as  is  the  case  in  Paris,  Hamburg,  Rome,  Geneva,  and 
Brussels,  the  situation  is  aggravated  rather  than  im- 
proved; for  nowhere  are  there  proper  facilities,  and  the 
women  may  all  the  more  readily  practise  imposition.12 
Disease  is  therefore  not  more  likely  to  be  discovered. 

9 Loc.  cit.,  p.  89. 

10  Zeitschrift  V,  p.  286. 

11  Zeitschrift  XI,  p.  6.  See  also  articles  by  Loeb  referred  to 
under  Chapter  I. 

12  This  would  appear  the  more  charitable  explanation  of  the  fact 
that  429  inmates  of  Paris  bordells  showed  one  case  of  syphilis  in 
1902;  312  showed  none  in  1903.  Turot,  loc.  cit.,  p.  70.  In  the 
Roman  brothels,  “not  oftener  than  once  in  three  or  four  months 
is  a girl  discovered  who  is  diseased  and  forced  to  withdraw  from 

256 


Regulation  and  Disease 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  more  likely  by  far  to  be 
widely  distributed : for  the  bordell  prostitute  entertains,  as 
we  have  learned,  a stream  of  patrons.  Schrank  estimated 
that  the  Vienna  women  averaged  three  to  ten  visitors 
daily ; but  the  number  is  known  on  occasions  to  have  risen 
to  thirty  or  higher.13  An  authentic  instance  of  57  vis- 
itors in  one  day  is  recorded ; 14  the  city  physician  of 
Rome  vouched  for  a case  of  60  visitors;  the  mayor  of 
Bordeaux  told  the  French  commission  of  a woman  who 
had  received  82  clients  in  a single  day.15  The  sale  of 
alcohol  in  the  bordell  markedly  increases  the  range  of  in- 
fection, for  it  provokes  recklessness  and  banishes  caution. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  one-third  of  the  gonorrhoeal 
infections  are  incurred  while  the  victim  is  in  liquor.10  If 
then,  the  woman  is  herself  infected,  she  has  enlarged  fa- 
cilities for  distributing  disease;  even  if  not  herself 
infected,  she  may  be  the  carrier  of  disease  from  one  of  her 
patrons  to  others  of  the  series.  The  chief  physician  of 
the  Vienna  police  remarked  in  a public  discussion  of  this 
point : “ The  prostitute  is  often  only  the  carrier  of  an 

infection.  It  is  nothing  new  to  find  a man  who  has  con- 
tracted disease  from  a woman  whom  the  most  careful  ex- 
amination pronounces  1 healthy.’  These  things  happen 
with  all  infectious  diseases.”  17 

Statistics  favorable  to  this  contention  can  be  submit- 

the  house ! ” In  one  establishment  it  was  declared  that  no  girl  had 
been  disbarred  for  years  on  account  of  disease:  an  instance  was 
however  recalled  — “ four  years  ago.” 

13  Schrank,  loc.  cit.,  Vol.  II,  p.  209. 

14  Zeitschrift  I,  p.  375. 

15  Report,  French  Commission , p.  no. 

16  Pinkus,  loc.  cit.,  p.  108,  with  notes.  In  Mdller’s  cases  at  Stock- 
holm, 67.7%  of  the  infected  men  admitted  intoxication.  Zeitschrift 
V.,  p.  301. 

17  Zeitschrift  IX,  p.  103. 

257 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ted ; but  in  view  of  the  liability  of  the  patient  to  error  18 
in  locating  the  source  of  his  infection,  the  argument  is 
perhaps  more  conclusive  than  the  figures.  A single  set 
of  statistics  from  Bremen  that  appears  to  prove  the  re- 
verse will  be  presently  accounted  for.  More  significant, 
however,  is  the  contrast  between  the  amount  of  disease 
discovered  in  the  bordell  inmates  of  Hamburg  and  the 
scattered  prostitutes  of  Berlin : 19 


Number  inscribed  women 

Year  1903  1904  1905  1906  1907 

Berlin  3,709  3,287  3,135  3,5i8  3,692 

Hamburg  1,266  1,258  1,291  1,039  920 

Number  found  diseased 

Year  1903  1904  1905  1906  1907 

Berlin  620  505  576  660  732 

Hamburg  759  843  719  721  791 

Percentage  diseased 

Year  1903  1904  1905  1906  1907 

Berlin  16.7  15.3  18.3  18.7  19.8 

Hamburg  59.9  67.0  55.7  69.3  85.9 


When  the  comparison  is  made  in  terms  of  examinations 
rather  than  individuals,  the  result  is  similarly  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  the  bordell.  Of  1,000  examinations  made 
of  bordell  inmates  in  Brussels  between  1881  and  1885, 
2.71  per  cent,  showed  disease;  of  the  same  number  of 
examinations  of  scattered  women  2.51  per  cent.20  But 
perhaps  the  best  statistical  proof  is  derived  from  Vienna, 
where  substantially  the  same  methods  — if  poor,  at  any 

18  This  is  well  discussed  by  Oppenheim  and  Neugebauer  in  Zeit- 
schrift  XII,  pp  306-7.  One-half  of  the  men  interrogated  were 
unable  to  give  definite  answers.  Ditto , p.  314. 

19  Zeitschrift  XII,  pp.6-7. 

20  Ditto.  It  is,  of  course,  clear  that  these  figures  are  vitiated  by 
the  poor  quality  of  the  examinations;  but  undoubtedly,  whatever 
her  own  condition,  the  bordell  prostitute  can  contaminate  more  men, 
if  she  is  herself  diseased  — as  our  argument  proves  her  to  be  — 
and,  in  any  event,  she  is  so  situated  as  to  act  as  a passive  carrier 
more  largely. 


Regulation  and  Disease 

rate  consistently  poor  — were  applied  to  both  sets  of 
registered  women,  the  bordell  women  making  regularly 
the  worse  record : 21 


Percentage  diseased 


Year  1888 

1889 

1890 

1891 

1892 

1893 

Bordell  inmates  13 

12 

15 

13.5 

13.5 

12 

Scattered  prostitutes.  2 

3-6 

5-3 

4.7 

6.5 

5.8 

The  bordell  is  particularly  dangerous  to  youth,  whose 
curiosity  it  excites ; and  recklessness  and  ignorance 
characteristic  of  that  period  results  in  an  exceptionally 
high  ratio  of  infection.  Pinkus  gives  some  statistics  col- 
lected at  Kiel,  showing  that  of  ioo  boys  under  20,  33.75 
per  cent,  had  been  infected  in  the  bordells  of  that  city; 
of  100  men  over  20,  the  bordells  were  held  responsible 
in  only  19.75  Per  cent.22  Hecht,  discussing  the  experi- 
ence of  Prague,  points  out  the  “ relatively  greater  fre- 
quency of  infection  in  bordells  ” and  attributes  it  con- 
fidently to  the  “ greater  volume  of  their  business  in  con- 
sequence of  their  readier  accessibility.”  23 

Against  the  position  above  taken,  the  experience  of 
Bremen  has  recently  been  cited.  There  the  percentage 
of  infection  discovered  among  bordell  women  has  been 
steadily  reduced  by  the  system  of  regulation  in  vogue. 
In  1900,  the  50  inhabitants  of  Helenenstrasse  averaged 
1.4  infections  each;  in  1905,  the  seventy-odd  women 
there  averaged  .73  infections  each;  in  1910,  .38  apiece.24 

Can  it  be  fairly  inferred  that  a strictly  supervised 
bordell  system  will  thus  greatly  diminish  danger?  As 
a matter  of  fact,  there  is  no  pretense  that  the  total 

21  Referat,  loc.  cit.,  p.  104. 

22  Loc.  cit.,  p.  69. 

23  Zeitschrift  VIII,  p.  399. 

24  The  system  is  fully  described  by  Weidanz  in  Zeitschrift  XIV, 
pp.  88,  etc.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  nothing  is  said  as  to  the 
amount  of  disease  contracted  by  men. 

259 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

amount  of  venereal  disease  in  Bremen  has  been  percep- 
tibly influenced  by  the  bordell  control.  The  business  of 
the  bordells  is  steadily  shrinking;  the  clandestine  prosti- 
tute — uncontrolled  and  unregulated  — thrives.  Hence, 
even  if  effective,  the  Bremen  remedy  is  impossible.  Sev- 
enty women  can  be  drilled  to  exercise  all  kinds  of  precau- 
tion,— but  the  moment  the  number  is  largely  increased, 
supervision  collapses.  The  smaller  number  of  women 
here  interned  can  be  forced  to  provide  their  guests  with 
mechanical  devices  — and  themselves  to  utilize  strong  an- 
tiseptic douches.25  But  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the 
same  policy  could  be  operated  wholesale.  The  figures  are 
themselves,  however,  without  the  significance  attributed 
to  them.  In  the  first  place  because,  as  the  oft-infected 
prostitute  suffers  from  chronic  gonorrhoea,  she  is  always 
a menace,  most  of  all  so  during  coition  (let  the  exam- 
ination say  what  it  will)  ; strong  douches  simply  wash 
away  accessible  evidence.  In  the  second  place,  because 
the  membership  of  the  little  colony  is  so  constantly 
changing  that  the  figures  do  not  speak  for  the  condition 
of  a definite  set  of  women.  The  following  table  brings 
this  point  out  clearly : 


Year 

Enrolment  Jan.  1st 

Added  during  year 

Withdrawn 

1902  

47 

33 

28 

1903  • . . • 

52 

59 

4i 

1904  .... 

68 

78 

72 

There  was  thus  a constant  entrance  and  exit,  the  en- 
tire membership  being  transformed  in  a short  space  of 
time.26  Looking  through  the  police  records,  I ascer- 
tained that  one  woman  had  been  resident  six  years,  one 

25  It  is  stated  that  22,000  sublimate  of  mercury  pastilles  were  used 
by  them  last  year. 

26  Zeitschrift  IV,  p.  81. 


260 


Regulation  and  Disease 

or  two  others  one  and  a half  years;  all  the  rest  were 
recent  additions. 

There  is  therefore  no  basis  in  experience  for  a verdict 
favorable  to  bordells  on  the  ground  that  they  conduce 
to  a form  of  medical  inspection  that  tends  to  diminish 
disease.  The  fact  is  that,  though  infection  can  be  less- 
ened by  the  use  of  mechanical  devices,  the  recklessness 
developed  in  bordells  consequent  on  alcoholic  indulgence 
operates  to  prevent  rather  than  to  encourage  precau- 
tionary measures.  The  women  never  cease  to  be  dan- 
gerous; and  as  they  transact  an  amount  of  business  im- 
possible outside,  the  actual  amount  of  infection  is  enor- 
mously increased. 

On  the  medical  side,  therefore,  regulation  is  even 
weaker  than  on  the  side  of  order.  There  is  a connec- 
tion between  prostitution  and  disorder,  in  such  wise  that 
some  sort  of  police  control  of  disorderly  or  criminal 
prostitution  might  conceivably  be  a useful  way  of  keep- 
ing them  in  easy  reach.  Experience  proves  that  the  same 
object  can  indeed  be  otherwise  attained,  and  without 
granting  enrolled  prostitutes  privileges  which  are  them- 
selves damaging  to  the  public  and  straightway  involve 
the  extension  of  similar  privileges  to  the  uncontrolled. 
But  there  is  still  a grain  of  truth  at  the  bottom,  namely, 
that  the  low-grade  prostitute  tends  to  align  herself  with 
crime  and  for  that  reason  may  be  properly  made  a con- 
stant object  of  police  surveillance. 

It  is  absurd,  however,  to  infer  that  machinery  devised 
in  the  interest  of  order  is  equally  applicable  to  sanita- 
tion. On  the  score  of  order,  the  police  are  interested 
in  criminal  and  semi-criminal  prostitutes.  The  discreet 

261 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

women  who  ply  their  vocation  inconspicuously  and  in  a 
businesslike  spirit  give  no  trouble  and  are  therefore 
never  inscribed.  Disease  however,  is  an  altogether  dif- 
ferent matter.  From  that  there  is  for  the  prostitute  no 
exemption  whatsoever.  She  contracts  it  irrespective  of 
her  outward  demeanor;  and  she  communicates  it,  re- 
gardless of  the  general  decorousness  of  her  behavior. 
The  criminal  law  runs  against  a part  of  the  prostitute 
army;  the  bacteriological  law  against  all.  A form  of 
control  adequate  to  the  former  is  therefore  entirely  in- 
adequate to  the  latter. 

There  is  then  on  the  sanitary  side  no  support  whatever 
for  the  theory  of  police  regulation.  It  assumes  that 
those  dangerous  to  order  are  the  ones  most  dangerous 
to  health;  that  crime  and  disease  go  together;  that  if 
the  police  inscribe  women  inclined  to  join  prostitution 
and  crime,  they  will  thus  get  hold  of  the  main 
sources  of  infection.  But  the  truth  is  far  otherwise. 
The  non-criminal  prostitute  is  at  least  as  danger- 
ous to  health  as  the  criminal  prostitute.  The  young, 
who  cannot  be  inscribed;  the  older,  more  cautious  and 
more  showy  who  take  care  not  to  annoy  the  police ; the 
occasional  and  incidentals,  who  oscillate  between  or 
mingle  prostitution  and  work;  — these  are  perhaps  even 
more  active  agents  in  spreading  disease  than  the  utterly 
repulsive  women  whose  thieving  or  drinking  propen- 
sities make  them  the  peculiar  objects  of  police  care  on 
the  score  of  order. 

There  is  another  objection  to  identifying  disease  and 
crime,  as  the  association  of  medical  inspection  with  the 
police  inevitably  does.  The  infected  prostitute  has  been 
taught  that  the  consequences  of  disease  resemble  the 

262 


Regulation  and  Disease 

consequences  of  crime;  they  lead  to  arrest  and  condem- 
nation, — ■ even  though  condemnation  means  only  a hos- 
pital ward.  This  ward  is  in  some  places  still  a prison; 
in  others,  prison  associations  cling  to  it.  In  consequence, 
the  woman’s  first  impulse  on  realizing  her  condition  is 
to  flee  or  to  hide.  She  resorts  to  a quack,  she  employs 
superficial  remedies  to  conceal  the  ravages  and  signs  of 
infection;  and  she  plies  her  business.  Hence  a few 
wretched  or  foolish  girls  and  women  who  are  in  igno- 
rance of  their  condition  or  who  have  been  suddenly  ap- 
prehended find  themselves  pronounced  “ diseased.” 
One  sees  them  at  St.  Lazare  and  other  less  hideous 
places, — all  alike  poor  and  friendless.  The  more  clever 
of  the  inscribed  women,  if  diseased,  disappear  into  remote 
lodgings  or  to  other  towns ; the  fear  of  the  prison  hospital 
leads  them  to  conceal  and  to  scatter  infection.  Nor  is 
there  any  hope  of  breaking  off  the  association  in  the 
woman’s  mind  so  long  as  a pretended  sanitary  function 
is  lodged  in  police  hands. 

The  women  have  thus  completely  penetrated  the  san- 
itary insincerity  of  regulation.  They  know  that  they 
are  not  regulated  simply  because  they  are  prostitutes, — 
not  even  because  they  are  diseased  prostitutes.  Too 
many  mere  prostitutes  are  never  touched;  the  diseased 
prostitute  is  too  rarely  apprehended  just  on  that  account. 
A woman  is  inscribed  because,  being  a prostitute,  with  or 
without  disease,  she  has  incurred, — justly  enough,  doubt- 
less, as  a rule  — the  suspicion  and  displeasure  of  the 
police.  The  hygienic  motive  did  not  and  does  not  start 
the  machinery  to  move,  and  its  connection  with  ordinary 
police  functions,  methods  and  spirit  results  in  its  own  dis- 
credit and  defeat. 


263 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

A final  absurdity  remains  to  be  pointed  out.  What 
can  it  avail  to  incarcerate  for  brief  periods  a few  un- 
happy women,  if  meanwhile  the  manufacture  of  fresh 
foci  of  infection  proceeds  unhampered?  As  long  as  reg- 
ulation completely  omits  men,27  new  sources  of  infection 
are  produced  far  more  rapidly  than  by  any  known 
method  they  can  be  eradicated.  A vicious  circle  exists. 
Men  infect  the  beginners  — * themselves  at  the  time  out  of 
reach  — who  in  their  turn  infect  other  men.  I pointed 
out  in  the  opening  chapter  that  prostitution  is  a concept 
involving  two  persons.  Logic  and  justice  alike  require 
that  both  parties  be  considered  as  equal  partners  in  the 
act;  and  in  no  respect  is  it  more  completely  impossible 
to  omit  either  of  the  two  essential  factors  from  the  reck- 
oning than  in  the  matter  of  disease.  Society  has  chosen 
to  overlook  the  man;  but  nature  has  righted  the  balance 
by  impartially  distributing  disease  and  suffering;  nor 
will  she  permit  herself  to  be  outwitted  by  any  one-sided 
scheme,  even  though  it  be  far  more  extensive  and  ef- 
ficient than  regulation  has  thus  far  anywhere  been. 

Regulation,  needless  on  the  score  of  order,  is  thus  seen 
to  be  positively  harmful  in  its  bearing  on  disease.  As 
a system,  therefore,  it  runs  counter  to  the  modern  spirit 
in  ethics,  in  politics,  and  in  hygiene.  Why  then  should 
it  still  exist  in  places,  why  should  it  fight  so  stubbornly 
for  survival?  To  the  answering  of  this  question,  the 
last  chapter  dealing  with  the  subject  will  be  devoted. 

27  The  absurdity  of  ignoring  the  male  factor  in  any  endeavor  to 
lessen  disease  is  clearly  shown  by  the  following  incident:  In 

Christiania,  in  1910,  among  those  applying  for  free  treatment  of 
venereal  disease,  were  21  women  who  named  their  husbands  as  the 
source  of  infection,  6 men  who  named  their  wives. 

264 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  REAL  INWARDNESS  OF  REGULATION 

Reasons  for  partial  survival  of  regulation. — Policy  rapidly  losing 
ground. — Ignorance  of  its  details. — Political  and  social  conservatism. 
• — Vested  interests. — Regulation  and  police  corruption. — Ulterior  mo- 
tives.— Final  objection  to  regulation. 

In  the  course  of  the  last  three  chapters  I have  been  at 
pains  to  discuss  in  detail  the  continental  regulation  of 
vice.  I have  shown  that  the  term  regulation  denotes 
no  uniform  system,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  marked 
variations  of  system  exist,  explicable  in  the  main,  as  dif- 
ferent attempts  to  stop  a gap,  to  prevent  further  col- 
lapse, or  to  effect  a readjustment  somewhat  less  re- 
pugnant to  modern  feeling.  Two  reasons  continue  to  be 
advanced  officially  in  support  of  the  system:  that  it  is 
necessary  to  the  police  authorities  for  the  maintenance 
of  order,  and  that  it  contributes  to  the  reduction  of 
venereal  disease.  The  former  contention  has  been  shown 
to  lack  substantial  basis;  the  latter  is  assuredly  in  most 
cases  either  insincere  or  mistaken, — insincere,  I take  it, 
in  Paris,  where  the  most  elementary  sanitary  precau- 
tions are  neglected,  where  the  administration  of  the  hy- 
gienic features  is  so  notoriously  bad  that  one  cannot  but 
suspect  the  entire  sanitary  object;  mistaken  at  Vienna, 
where  a conscientious  administration  continues  to  labor 
at  the  task  with  implements  and  methods  already  ob- 
solete. I have  shown,  further,  that,  futile  at  its  best, 

265 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

regulation  is  at  its  worst  when  associated  with  recog- 
nized or  tolerated  bordells,  for  the  bordell  is  itself  the 
scene  of  disorder  and  the  hotbed  of  exploitation,  excess, 
and  disease.  Of  the  ethical  argument  against  regula- 
tion little  has  thus  far  been  made,  for  it  seemed  better  in 
the  first  place  to  examine  the  system  on  its  own  chosen 
ground.  Nevertheless,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  eth- 
ical argument  has  played  a part  in  discrediting  a system, 
which  has  suffered  alike  from  its  own  obvious  failure  as 
well  as  from  the  growing  disgust  of  society. 

For  the  reasons  just  summarized,  regulation  has  lost 
and  is  still  rapidly  losing  ground.  As  recently  as  a 
quarter  of  a century  ago  it  was  in  vogue  throughout  the 
Continent  of  Europe;  in  the  seventies  it  enjoyed  a brief 
currency  in  Great  Britain  as  well.  It  is  decaying  in 
France  where,  of  695  communes  having  over  5,000  in- 
habitants, it  has  entirely  disappeared  from  250 1 and 
practically  from  many  others.  I11  Germany,  of  162  cities, 
48  have  dispensed  with  it,2  while  it  is  moribund  in  others. 
In  Switzerland  it  survives  only  in  Geneva;  it  has  been 
wholly  abandoned  in  Denmark,  Norway  and  Great  Brit- 
ain. A special  commission  has  recommended  its  total 
abolition  in  France;  and  a similar  body  in  Sweden,  far 
from  unanimous  at  the  start,  has  unanimously  come  to 
the  same  conclusion.  Partisans  of  regulation  sometimes 
endeavor  to  explain  away  this  general  movement  on  the 
ground  that  in  it  ethics  and  sentimentality  have  simply 
prevailed  over  science  and  commonsense.  But  the  facts 
lie  far  otherwise.  Religious  bodies  have  indeed  taken  a 

1 Report,  French  Commission,  Annexes,  p.  54. 

2 Scheven,  loc.  cit.,  p.  11. 


266 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

prominent  part;  but  there  has  been  no  lack  of  facts  con- 
tributed and  vouched  for  by  physicians  and  scientists 
of  distinction.  Among  the  most  prominent  opponents 
of  regulation  are  publicists,  who  have  observed  its  fu- 
tility from  the  standpoint  of  order,  and  medical  specialists 
who  have  become  convinced  of  its  uselessness  from  the 
standpoint  of  sanitation.3 

For  its  partial  survival  thus  far  in  France,  Germany, 
and  Austria-FIungary  there  is  no  single  or  simple  ex- 
planation ; several  considerations  combine  to  retard  what 
is  unmistakably  a general  movement  destined  to  efface 
the  system  in  all  its  forms.  Let  us  briefly  consider  the 
factors  in  question. 

Ignorance  is  partially  responsible.  The  general  public 
is  uninformed;  many  intelligent  people  have  only  the 
vaguest  ideas  as  to  what  is  taking  place  in  the  name  of 
regulation ; even  the  police  have  rarely  studied  the  prob- 
lem except  shortsightedly  in  relation  to  their  own  daily 
necessities.  In  Paris,  the  principles  involved  have  been 
indeed  the  subject  of  acrimonious  discussion  for  many 
years;  but  I recall  the  utter  amazement  with  which  a 
distinguished  politician,  to  whom  I had  been  referred  as 
one  keenly  interested  in  the  topic,  heard  that  at  that  mo- 
ment only  one  hundred  and  seventy  women  were  in- 
terned on  the  score  of  disease.  Other  similar  incidents 
could  be  given.  The  Budapest  officials  had  studied  and 
adopted  the  revised  Berlin  procedure;  the  Vienna  offi- 
cials had  studied  the  Budapest  and  Berlin  bureaus  on 
the  ground;  but  other  instances  of  painstaking  examina- 

3 Lack  of  space  makes  a fuller  historical  account  impossible  in  this 
volume.  The  reader  will  find  the  details  in  “ The  Social  Evil:  a Re- 
port” (New  York,  1912)  pp.  163-196. 

26  ? 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tion  of  the  workings  and  the  effects  of  regulation  even 
on  the  part  of  those  charged  with  its  enforcement  were 
very  rare  indeed.  I learned  to  my  surprise  that  the 
police  of  one  town  knew  of  other  systems  only  what 
was  printed, — an  inadequate  basis  for  judgment,  because 
the  official  accounts  are  too  favorable  and  quite  frag- 
mentary, conveying  no  accurate  idea  of  conditions  and 
events;  the  abundant  outside  literature  is  so  uneven  and 
so  conflicting  that  the  bureaucrat,  reading  it  in  his  office, 
and  not  knowing  what  to  believe,  neglects  it  almost  alto- 
gether. Partisans  of  retention,  reform,  and  abolition 
alike  fight  more  or  less  largely  with  lame  weapons, — 
reports,  hearsay,  and  newspaper  clippings.  The  Paris 
police,  for  example,  urge  that  if  the  morals  patrol  were 
abolished,  respectable  women  would  not  be  free  from 
molestation  on  the  streets;  and  a high  official  cited  Zu- 
rich as  a striking  example.  Inquiry  and  observation  on 
my  part  at  Zurich  failed  to  discover  the  slightest  basis 
for  the  statement.  Non-existent  statistics  are  frequently 
referred  to,  to  show  the  dreadful  things  that  have  fol- 
lowed in  the  wake  of  abolition  in  England.  Under  these 
conditions  the  emotional  fervor  with  which  the  ethical 
argument  has  been  pushed  has  had  at  times  an  effect 
just  opposite  to  that  intended.  The  police  official  sees 
a conflict  between  facts  and  ethics  where,  had  the  facts 
been  dispassionately  and  comparatively  presented,  he 
might  remark  that  religious  zeal  was  merely  sweeping 
away  in  righteous  indignation  the  fallen  timbers  of  a 
structure  condemned  by  its  own  results. 

The  political  and  social  conservatism  of  Europe 
doubtless  also  operates  to  stay  the  reforming  hand. 

268 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

Regulation  of  some  kind  has  existed  time  out  of  mind, 
— in  classical  and  medieval,  as  in  modern  times.  Pros- 
titutes have  formed  a class  apart ; and  societies  which  re- 
spect class  differentiations  readily  enough  transmit  an  in- 
stitution which  appears  to  be  founded  simply  on  the 
frank  acceptance  of  what  has  been,  is,  and  will  continue 
to  be.  That  much  more  than  this  is  implied  in  and 
countenanced  by  regulation  is  a consideration,  the  force 
of  which  is  not  appreciated  until  the  critical  and  inquir- 
ing spirit  becomes  active. 

Regulation  enjoys,  however,  more  positive  and  more 
formidable  protection  than  would  be  afforded  by  either 
ignorance  or  tradition.  It  is  identified  with  powerful 
vested  interests.  Of  European  office-holders  — as  of 
all  others  — it  is  true  that  “ officials  rarely  resign  and 
never  die.”  The  officials  — lay  and  medical  — and  the 
patrolmen  directly  and  indirectly  connected  with  the 
morals  bureau  form  a place-holding  interest,  magnifying 
its  own  importance,  stating  its  own  case  in  the  way  that 
is  most  likely  to  carry  conviction  and  resisting  interfer- 
ence with  all  the  strength  of  the  instinct  that  struggles 
for  existence.  The  destruction  of  the  system  would 
sweep  away  a more  or  less  numerous  official  apparatus : 
commissaries  and  inspectors  for  whom  there  might 
be  no  other  places;  examining  physicians  to  whom  the 
official  stipend  is  perhaps  an  important  item. 

Less  creditable  motives  are  also  alleged.  The  Euro- 
pean police  4 bear,  on  the  whole,  an  excellent  reputation. 
As  to  the  capacity,  intelligence  and  integrity  of  the  offi- 

4 This  topic  will  be  exhaustively  considered  in  Mr.  Raymond  B. 
Fosdick’s  forthcoming  volume  The  European  Police  in  this  same 
series.  I touch  it  briefly  here  for  the  reason  that  appears  in  the  text. 

269 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

dais  one  hears  no  question  raised.  The  administration 
of  the  police  furnishes  a legitimate  and  honorable  career, 
comparable  in  prominence  and  dignity  with  that  of  the 
army  or  the  bench.  The  police  president  is  usually  a 
jurist  of  university  training  who  has  risen  to  his  post 
by  promotion  on  the  basis  of  merit.  His  appointment 
has  no  connection  with  politics,  and  he  holds  office  for 
life  or  good  behavior.  The  very  patrolmen  are  se- 
lected with  scrupulous  care.  In  Germany  no  man  is  ap- 
pointed unless  he  has  served  as  an  under-officer  during 
his  military  service;  in  England,  fresh  men  are  taken 
from  the  country  and  small  towns  in  order  to  avoid 
connections  and  associations  possibly  prejudicial  to  dis- 
interested service.  The  rank  and  file  therefore  are 
trustworthy  and  respected.  Exceptions  occur,  but  it 
is  nowhere  believed  that  they  are  frequent  or  serious. 

But  this  exemplary  reputation  does  not  belong  to  the 
morals  police.  Once  more,  the  head  officials  are  no- 
where involved;  charges  of  corruption  and  grave  im- 
propriety on  the  part  of  the  patrolmen  in  the  morals 
service  are,  however,  all  too  common.  The  situation 
created  by  regulation  is  indeed  an  impossible  one. 
Prostitution  is  treated  as  inevitable;  it  is  authorized  and 
“ regulated  ” on  the  ground  that  men  will  indulge  them- 
selves. And  yet  the  morals  police  who  are  closest  to  it 
are  expected  to  hold  aloof!  Again,  women  are  exploited 
by  pimps,  by  liquor-dealers,  by  bordell-keepers ; yet  reg- 
ulation assumes  that  the  morals  police  who  are  every 
moment  in  position  to  sell  favors,  exemptions  and  privi- 
leges will  refrain  from  doing  so.5 

6 Lindenau  grants  this  by  implication.  He  argues  for  a change 

270 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

In  truth,  such  oversight  as  would  insure  an  honest 
morals  police  adequate  to  the  need  in  point  of  number 
cannot  possibly  be  instituted.  The  task  would  be  diffi- 
cult enough  if  all  prostitutes  were  treated  alike;  for 
public  opinion  and  official  supervision  could  then  en- 
force a consistent  policy.  But  public  opinion  and  official 
supervision  cannot  enforce  a policy  abounding  in  excep- 
tions. The  moment  exceptions  occur,  an  opportunity 
for  trading,  for  corruption,  for  collusion  is  created; 
hence  the  danger  arising  from  measures  applicable  to  part 
only  of  the  offenders.  If  at  the  most  one  prostitute  in 
six  or  eight  or  ten  is  to  be  registered,  who  is  to  know 
on  what  basis  the  others  escape  through  the  net?  Who 
is  to  tell  whether  an  officer  refrains  from  making  an  ar- 
rest, because  he  lacks  proof,  or  has  been  bought  off  with 
money  or  favors?  It  can  occasion  no  surprise  therefore 
to  find  it  freely  asserted  that  among  the  stronger  forces 
working  for  the  retention  of  regulation  must  be  reckoned 
the  personal  interest  of  corrupt  placemen,  and  of  liq- 
uor-dealers, dance-hall-owners,  and  bordell-keepers  who 
through  regulation  come  into  possession  of  a group  of 
women  whom  they  can  exploit.  The  effort  to  dislodge 
regulation  in  Geneva  — the  sole  Swiss  town  in  which 
it  survives  — • has  been  so  far  successfully  resisted  by  a 
combination  of  bordell-keepers,  liquor-dealers,  gamblers 
and  high  livers,  who  proclaim  Geneva  as  a “ smaller 
Paris,”  and  urge  that  the  miniature  should  be  character- 
ized by  all  the  gaiety  and  frivolity  of  the  prototype.  In 
Paris  it  is  charged  that  morals  policemen  have  acted  as 

of  law  on  the  ground  that  thus  “ an  end  will  be  put  to  the  reproach 
that  controlled  prostitutes  are  exposed  to  the  caprice  of  subaltern  po- 
lice officers  on  account  of  the  details  of  the  rules.”  Loc.  cit.,  p.  27. 

271 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

“ go-betweens  ” in  negotiations  between  brothel-keepers 
and  street  women ; that  they  have  in  some  instances  under 
threat  of  arrest  forced  girls  from  the  street  into  houses 
'needing  recruits;  and  that  they  have  been  bribed  to 
overlook  infractions  of  the  age-limit.  These  are  not 
the  irresponsible  charges  of  unknown  journalists;  they 
are  made  on  the  authority  of  some  of  the  ablest  pub- 
licists in  France, — a former  prime  minister  among  them. 
I have  in  my  possession  a copy  of  a letter  written  by  a 
morals  policeman  to  a street  prostitute  working  for  him 
as  a pimp!  One  hears  of  similar  incidents  elsewhere. 
Shortly  before  I went  to  Berlin, — so  I was  informed  — 
twelve  men  had  been  dismissed  from  the  force  for  un- 
worthy conduct.  A similar  incident  again  recently  took 
place.  The  Berlin  morals  patrolmen  are  permitted  to 
utilize  registered  women  as  spies  in  order  to  obtain  in- 
formation for  their  guidance.  A girl  thus  used  turned 
upon  her  employers,  denouncing  them  as  “ pimps.”  Of 
those  accused  additional  evidence  was  procured  against 
only  three;  and  of  these  one  was  clearly  proved  to  have 
received  from  her  1,000  marks.  At  Frankfort  I was 
told  of  instances  in  which  it  was  found  that  police  offi- 
cers lived  in  the  very  houses  to  which  registered 
prostitutes  were  referred.  We  may  conclude,  there- 
fore, that  the  corrupt  interest  of  unprincipled  men 
inside  and  outside  the  force  is  a factor  in  the  struggle  to 
retain  regulation. 

With  the  difficulties  of  the  police  situation  in  non- 
regulated  communities  I shall  deal  in  subsequent  chap- 
ters; but  it  must  be  remarked  at  this  juncture  that  the 
defects  of  the  morals  police  above  pointed  out  arise  not 

272 


The  Real  InwarHness  of  Regulation 

only  from  the  existence  of  this  specialized  force,  but  from 
the  fact  that  they  are  called  on  to  execute  a self-contra- 
dictory policy;  neither  superior  officers  nor  the  public 
can  know  to  whom  the  rules  are  applicable  and  to  whom 
not.  But  in  non-regulated  towns,  with  or  without  a 
morals  police  system,  the  same  policy  is  applied  to  all. 
Street-walking  is  or  is  not  allowed;  bordells  are  or  are 
not  tolerated.  The  opportunity  for  corruption  disap- 
pears, not  simply  because  the  morals  police  disappear  — 
this  is  not  always  the  case  — but  because  an  equitable 
and  readily  controllable  regime  is  introduced. 

There  must,  of  course,  be  other  motives  at  work  to 
account  for  the  maintenance  of  regulation;  for  the  police 
heads  being,  as  I have  urged,  men  of  honor  and  intelli- 
gence must  be  regarded  as  putting  up  with,  while  com- 
batting, the  evils  just  mentioned  for  the  sake  of  other  ob- 
jects, which  they  assume  to  outweigh  the  disadvantages 
involved.  Certain  provisions  of  the  rules  governing 
inscribed  women  give  the  clue  by  means  of  which  the 
motives  in  question  may  be  arrived  at ; and  confirmatory 
evidence  can  also  be  found. 

I have  frequently  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  a 
woman  is  not  registered  because  she  is  a prostitute,  nor 
even  because  she  is  a diseased  prostitute.  The  women 
who  nightly  frequent  the  cafes,  dance  halls  and  variety 
shows  are  among  the  most  notorious  prostitutes  in  Eu- 
rope,— thoroughly  well  known  to  the  police  and  to  the 
public, — yet  no  effort  is  anywhere  made  to  inscribe 
them.  These  women  are  not  overlooked  because  their 
health  is  miraculously  protected;  as  a matter  of  fact, 
they  have  run  the  gamut  of  disease,  are  liable  to  gon- 

273 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

orrhoeal  re-infection,  and  are  by  some  specialists  regarded 
as  especially  dangerous  because  they  appear  to  rather 
better  advantage  than  street-walkers.  The  same  state- 
ments apply  to  hundreds,  in  the  largest  cities  to  thousands, 
of  prostitutes,  far  more  humble  in  aspect  who  ply  their 
trade  quietly  and  unostentatiously  on  the  streets.  From 
time  to  time  a few  of  them,  apprehended  for  drunkenness 
or  soliciting,  are  forcibly  inscribed  in  towns  permitting 
compulsory  inscription;  but  for  the  most  part,  these 
women  do  not  reach  the  police  rolls  and  no  systematic 
effort  is  anywhere  made  to  place  them  there.  Over  a 
glass  of  wine  in  the  cafes  of  Montmartre  or  the  Latin 
quarter  one  readily  elicits  the  tell-tale  facts.  The  hab- 
itues of  these  resorts  know  the  police  and  the  police 
know  them.  There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  as  to  their 
status;  nightly  they  appear  in  their  habitat.  They  are 
not  inscribed,  even  though  their  notoriously  promiscuous 
relations  necessarily  result  in  infection.  They  are  not 
inscribed  because  they  behave  well.  Unaggressive  in 
demeanor,  they  engage  the  passer-by  in  bantering  conver- 
sation, disclosing  their  purpose  but  rarely  pushing  it. 
Their  habits,  abode,  and  associations  are  known  to  the 
police,  but  known  to  involve  no  open  break  with  order 
or  with  conventional  notions  of  decency.  Only  when 
crime  or  disorder  brings  them  into  suspicion  or  prom- 
inence, do  they  become  objects  of  police  observation, 
eventually  inscribed  and  forced  to  report  for  medical  ex- 
amination — the  device  by  means  of  which  they  are  kept 
under  close  surveillance.  “ The  medical  visit  is  only  the 
excuse  made  for  arbitrary  police  power.”  6 

6 “ La  visite  est  ia  seule  excuse  de  ce  reglement  de  police  arbi- 

274 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

The  fact  then  that  notorious  prostitutes  who  give  no 
offence  by  their  actions,  associations,  or  movements  easily 
evade  inscription  suggests  at  once  that  inscription  is  not 
due  to  prostitution  as  such,  or  to  prostitution  complicated 
by  disease,  but  to  prostitution  in  so  far  as  it  is  suspected 
of  alliance  with  criminality  or  disorder.7  This  inter- 
pretation is  sustained  by  many  facts ; in  the  first  place,  by 
the  spy  system,  which  has  just  been  exposed  in  Berlin 
The  streets  abound  in  prostitutes  to  detect  whom  no  spies 
are  needed ; yet  they  are  for  the  most  part  overlooked  by 
the  police.  Spies  are  utilized  to  get  hold  of  prostitutes  to 
whom  there  is  some  objection  other  than  their  promis- 
cuous sexual  life.  Again,  everywhere  in  deciding  the 
question  as  to  whether  or  not  a woman  should  be  ar- 
rested, enormous  importance  is  attached  to  her  possess- 
ing a definite  domicile.  In  Berlin,  for  example,  girls 
with  “ feste  Wohnung”  (definite  domicile)  are  not  ap- 
prehended on  the  streets  unless  irrefragable  evidence 
is  at  hand ; girls  who  on  interrogation  prove  to  be 
without  “ feste  Wohnung  ” are  taken  up  promptly.  The 
distinction  is  obviously  not  made  on  the  theory  that 
the  former  is  not  a prostitute,  while  the  latter  is, — both 
are;  nor  on  the  theory  that  the  former  is  probably  in- 
fectious, the  latter  not, — again,  both  are.  The  signifi- 
cant difference  is  that  prostitutes  with  “ feste  Wohnung  ” 
are  apt  to  be  law-abiding  and  can  in  any  case  be  readily 

traire.”  . Reuss  : “ La  Prostitution  au  point  de  vue  de  Vhygiene  et  de 
V administration.”  Paris,  1889,  p.  788.  Quoted  by  Schmolder  in 
“ Staat  und  Prostitution.”  (Berlin,  1900),  p.  13. 

7 There  is  also  an  element  of  luck  that  ought  to  be  taken  into 
account.  Some  girls  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  morals  police  be- 
cause they  happen  to  be  caught  doing  things  which  others  have  done 
and  continue  to  do  with  impunity. 

275 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

laid  hold  of,  while  prostitutes  without  “ feste  Wohnung  ” 
are  apt  to  be  criminal  vagabonds  of  highly  elusive 
quality.8  Registration  enables  the  police  to  pin  these 
women  down  and  by  compelling  them  to  report  to  head- 
quarters at  brief  intervals  enables  the  police  to  keep  in 
constant  touch  with  a criminal  or  semi-criminal  ele- 
ment. 

There  is  perhaps  another  point  worth  mentioning. 
The  continental  police  are  constantly  concerned  lest  some 
possible  source  of  disturbance  escape  surveillance.  For 
this  reason  they  keep  a close  watch  on  individuals,  on 
political  movements,  social  agitations,  societies,  etc. 
Prostitution  is  a potential  source  of  disturbance;  the 
police  therefore  need  to  do  something  about  it,  before 
anything  happens.  Fortunately,  from  time  to  time  ex- 
perience shows  that  well-ordered  and  well-governed 
communities  may  safely  be  less  solicitous  about  them- 
selves; and  cities  which  have  discarded  regulation  are 
surprised  to  find  that  the  loss  of  unusual  machinery  and 
the  neglect  of  unusual  precautions  have  been  without 
baleful  consequences. 

The  above  view  — that  regulation  at  the  present  day 
is  retained  because  it  gives  the  police  an  additional  arm 
in  dealing  with  a certain  class  of  delinquents  — is  further 
sustained  by  certain  explicit  provisions  of  the  rules. 
For  the  Berlin  regulations  stipulate:  “ Registered 

women  must  at  once,  at  any  time,  day  or  night,  admit  to 
their  rooms  police  officers  who  come  to  make  inspection 

8 Vagabondage  is  elsewhere  also  the  prime  factor  in  registration. 
A prominent  Belgian  publicist  said  to  me  in  reference  to  Brussels: 
“ Only  the  women  who  are  poor  suffer  from  the  law.”  See  also 
Chapter  IX  for  the  Danish  law  on  Vagabondage. 

276 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

respecting  persons  found  with  them.”  9 Similarly  in 
Hamburg : “ Apart  from  all  the  regulations  affecting 

registration  of  addresses  required  of  all  inhabitants, 
registered  prostitutes  must  in  person  report  within 
twenty-four  hours  every  change  of  address;  further,  if 
they  propose  to  leave  the  city  permanently  or  transiently, 
they  must  in  person  announce  the  fact.10  Police  offi- 
cers wishing  to  view  their  premises  must  be  admitted 
without  delay.” 11  In  Paris,  the  rules  warn  women 
“ not  to  resist  the  agents  of  the  authorities,  nor  to  re- 
port falsely  their  names  or  addresses.”  12  In  Vienna, 
“ the  police  may  without  explanation  at  any  time  forbid 
prostitutes  to  occupy  a particular  house  or  to  room  with 
a particular  madame;  the  domiciles  of  prostitutes  are  to 
be  under  constant  surveillance  and  delegates  of  the  police 
must  be  admitted  on  request.”  13  Schneider,  noting  that 
it  “ is  well  known  that  the  police  frequently  utilize  the 
lowest  grade  of  prostitutes,  who  are  accustomed  to  con- 
sort with  criminals,  as  detectives,”  and  that  not  seldom 
bordell-keepers  and  bordell  inmates  are  required  to  act 
as  police  spies,  quotes  the  following  from  the  regula- 
tions in  vogue  at  Eger : “ Bordell  proprietors  are  in 

duty  bound  to  keep  close  watch  on  strange  customers 
and  to  give  the  police  prompt  and  quiet  notice  whenever 
suspicion  is  aroused.”  14  The  above  regulations  apply 
only  to  controlled  women;  uncontrolled  prostitutes  are 
amenable  only  to  the  rules  applicable  to  all  other  per- 

9 Rule,  ii. 

10  Rule  6. 

11  Rule  7. 

12  Obligations  et  Defences  inposees  aux  Ulles  publiques. 

13  Rules  14,  15. 

14  Loc . cit.}  pp.  23,  180. 


277 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

sons.  The  special  provisions  above  cited  are  compre- 
hensible if  it  is  understood  that  a certain  class  of  pros- 
titutes, themselves  of  doubtful  character,  consort  with 
and  conceal  criminal  and  suspicious  characters;  and  the 
fact  that  regulation  makes  in  general  no  effort  to  be  more 
extensive  than  the  class  in  question  lends  color  to  the 
view  here  taken. 

There  is,  however,  other  evidence  to  the  same  effect. 
M.  Lepine  the  former  Prefect  of  Paris,  has  already  been 
quoted  as  authority  for  the  statement  that  it  is  the  con- 
trolled women  who  annoy  the  police.  Unless  these 
women  are  enrolled  not  because  they  are  prostitutes,  but 
because  they  are  criminals,  there  would  be  no  reason 
why  arrested  prostitutes  should  prove  to  be  mainly  con- 
trolled prostitutes.  If  prostitutes  were  enrolled  without 
regard  to  criminality  or  criminal  associates,  those  ar- 
rested would  be  mainly  non-registered  women,  since  the 
latter  are  much  the  more  numerous  and  at  least  as  prom- 
inent. Yet  the  figures  everywhere  tell  the  opposite 
story.  In  Paris,  for  instance,  in  1903,  55,641  arrests 
were  made  among  the  inscribed  women,  numbering  that 
year  6,418  women;  among  the  far  greater  number  of  un- 
registered women,  1,426  were  arrested  once,  1,395  more 
than  once, — a total,  almost  negligible,  of  2, 821. 15  The 
disproportion  is  less  marked  at  Berlin  and  the  totals 
smaller,  but  the  same  fact  emerges : of  controlled  women 
in  1909,  1,122  were  arrested;  of  clandestines  many 
times  as  numerous,  636;  in  1910,  the  figures  are  1,984 
and  878  respectively.16  The  following  table  shows  for 

15  Turot,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  33,  35,  See  also  Commenge,  loc.  cit.,  Ch.  II. 

16  Police  Report,  loc.  cit.,  p.  72.  I cannot  make  out  whether  re- 
arrests are  included  in  these  figures, — probably  not. 

278 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

a series  of  years  the  number  of  women  arrested  by  the 
morals  police  of  Breslau  and  the  quotas  contributed 
thereto,  by  inscribed,  formerly  inscribed,  and  non-in- 
scribed  women : 17 


Years  

1890 

1891 

1892 

1893 

1894 

Total  arrests  

•1,336 

1,570 

1,707 

1,768 

i,995 

Inscribed  women 

.1,197 

1,386 

1,497 

1,560 

1,621 

Formerly  inscribed  women. 

12 

16 

22 

14 

17 

Non-inscribed  women 

168 

188 

194 

357 

At  Stockholm,  those  imprisoned  are  always  much  more 
numerous  than  those  in  the  hospital,  as  e.  g.,  201  in 
prison,  23  in  the  hospital  in  1870;  162  as  against  30  in 
1890;  216  as  against  74  in  1904.18  So,  of  979  women 
punished  between  1885  and  1889,  198  were  sentenced  to 
hard  labor  twice,  146  three  times,  111  four  times,  10  ten 
times,  and  2 thirteen  times.19  That  enrolled  prostitu- 
tion and  criminal  prostitution  fairly  coincide  is  thus  mani- 
fest. 

It  is  absurd,  as  we  shall  see  when  we  deal  with  the 
preservation  of  order  in  non-regulated  cities,  to  argue 
that  either  regulation  or  a special  police  is  required  in 
order  to  make  these  arrests.  As  a matter  of  fact,  not  a 
few  of  the  occasions  leading  to  arrests  are  attributable  to 
regulation,  partly  in  consequence  of  the  well-nigh  in- 
evitable abuse  of  the  privileges  extended  to  the  inscribed 
prostitute,  partly  because  of  trivial  infractions  of  lib- 
erties enjoyed  by  non-inscribed  and  denied  to  inscribed 
prostitutes ; 20  for  just  as  the  inscribed  prostitute  is  au- 

17  Zeitschrift  I,  p.  298. 

18  Johansson  in  Report,  Swedish  Commission , Vol.  Ill,  p.  11. 

19  Ibid,,  p.  123. 

20  For  example,  the  following  table  shows  number  of  breaches  of 

279 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

thorized  to  do  certain  things  without  molestation,  so  she  is 
forbidden  to  do  others  that  her  non-inscribed  sister  does 
without  interference.21  In  any  case,  as  disorder  and 
crime  are  most  rife  among  registered  women,  it  would 
appear  that  the  women  are  registered  on  the  ground  that 
they  need  police  oversight  and  thus  get  it  more  effectually. 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  Paris  bureau,  incidents  oc- 
cur daily,  explicable  on  the  theory  that  I have  just  set 
forth,  and  not  otherwise.  The  police  possess,  as  I have 
elsewhere  explained,  summary  power;  the  girl  has  no 
witnesses,  no  counsel,  no  appeal.  I watched  the  follow- 
ing transactions,  all  suggestive  of  ulterior  motive:  a 
girl  released  from  St.  Lazare  forty-eight  hours  before, 
was  brought  before  the  police  physicians  without  charge 
of  definite  offence,  adjudged  diseased,  and  sent  back  to 
prison.  Clearly  the  police  wanted  her  behind  the  bars, 
and  regulation  enabled  them  to  put  her  there  and  keep 
her  there.  Another  had  left  St.  Lazare  twenty-four 
hours  previously:  picked  up  for  disorder,  she  was  sent 
back  for  four  days.  A third,  arrested  the  previous  Fri- 
day, spent  Saturday  and  Sunday  in  prison;  re-arrested 
Monday,  she  received  a six  days’  sentence.  The  fourth 
was  arrested  at  2 a.  m.,  after  being  out  of  prison  one  day. 
The  next  was  asked  at  my  suggestion,  “ How  many  terms 
have  you  served  at  St.  Lazare  ? ” Her  answer : “ I 

don’t  know, — 'too  many  to  count.”  The  prison  attend- 
ant explained  to  me  that  some  of  these  “ repeaters  ” 

rules  on  the  part  of  the  few  hundred  inscribed  prostitutes  of  Stock- 
holm : 

1903  1904  1905  1906 

9,908  8,191  7,159  7,515 

21  This  is  the  situation  above  adverted  to  as  leading  to  corruption 
and  injustice. 


280 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

spend  twenty-five  nights  out  of  every  month  there,  re- 
ceiving a constant  succession  of  short  sentences.  They 
are  hardened  cases,  whom  the  medical  inspection  keeps 
close  to  the  police, — the  police,  who,  by  means  of  their 
summary  jurisdiction,  can  put  them  out  of  the  way 
whenever  their  suspicions  are  aroused!  The  fact  that 
clandestines  thrice  arrested  for  “racolage”  (soliciting) 
are  compulsorily  inscribed  bears  witness  once  more  to  the 
fact  that  registration  seeks  to  get  hold  of  only  the  dis- 
orderly and  criminal. 

The  criminal  arm  with  which  the  police  are  th'us 
furnished  is  a plain-clothes  division  — a secret  body 
moving  noiselessly  and  armed  with  summary  power. 
The  women  and  the  bordell-owners,  where  bordells  exist, 
prosecute  their  business  on  the  sufferance  of  this  body. 
I have  pointed  out  how  this  situation  may  lead  to  cor- 
ruption of  the  rank  and  file.  It  is  openly  and  responsibly 
charged  that  it  has  led  even  the  higher  authorities  in 
some  places  — notably  Paris  — to  employ  their  irre- 
sponsible power  for  political  or  other  purposes.  It  is 
alleged  that  prostitutes  and  bordell-keepers  have  been 
utilized  for  blackmail  and  espionage.  Concrete  cases 
are  always  so  involved  in  detail  that  the  charge  is  hard 
to  substantiate;  but  the  high  character  of  the  persons 
who  make  it  warrants  the  belief  that  it  is  not  wholly  base- 
less 22  Only  a few  months  ago,  the  city  of  Mainz  was 
profoundly  agitated  by  the  charge  that  the  matron  at- 

22  This  appears  to  be  especially  true  of  Paris,  where  I was  assured 
of  the  fact  by  many  persons  prominent  in  public  life, — senators, 
former  Cabinet  Ministers,  economists  and  physicians.  My  notes 
show  their  names,  which  are  in  not  a few  cases  honorably  known 
the  world  over.  I regret  that  I do  not  feel  warranted  in  giving 
them  here. 

281 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tached  to  the  morals  bureau  had  been  utilized  illegally  by 
her  superiors  in  this  very  direction.  To  one  who  has 
taken  the  time  to  understand  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit 
of  continental  regulation,  the  point  is  too  clear  to  re- 
quire  extensive  argument.  Blaschko’s  comment  is  en- 
tirely sound : “ Hygiene  is  not  the  reason  why  the 

police  so  stubbornly  hold  on  to  regulation.  For  reasons 
that  have  nothing  to  do  with  hygiene  the  police  have  a 
decided  interest  in  keeping  under  constant  observation 
precisely  this  group  of  professional  prostitutes.  They 
are  the  women  who  stand  in  intimate  relation  with  the 
criminal  world,  the  friends  of  pimps,  thieves,  and  bur- 
glars, often  enough  themselves  thieves.  Nobody  dis- 
putes the  right  of  the  police  to  watch  this  dangerous  class. 
But  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  criminal  point  of  view 
which  is  the  real  basis  of  existing  regulation  actually  gets 
in  the  way  of  efficient  sanitary  control.”  23 

I shall  show  in  the  chapters  dealing  with  abolition, 
that,  in  so  far  as  concerns  legitimate  police  control  of 
the  criminal  element  on  which  Blaschko  here  touches, 
there  appears  to  be  nothing  in  the  problem  that  requires 
an  extraordinary  instrument  vested  with  extra-legal 
powers ; in  so  far  as  the  final  explanation  of  the  tenacity 
of  the  police  is  espionage,  there  is  no  place  in  any  modern 
society  for  an  agency  of  this  character.  Crime  can  be 
kept  within  bounds  without  giving  certain  criminals  the 
right  to  practise  prostitution;  to  use  the  prostitute  and 
her  exploiter  as  spies  and  for  that  purpose  to  condone 
or  to  license  their  immorality  traverses  the  modern  con- 
ception of  the  function  of  the  state. 

213  Loc.  cit.,  p.  83. 

282 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

And  here  we  come  upon  the  final  and  unanswerable  ob- 
jection to  any  form  of  regulation.  The  modern  state 
— The  modern  European  state  — is  an  organization 
charged  with  the  positive  duty  of  securing  and  promoting 
conditions  which  make  for  the  welfare,  happiness,  and 
usefulness  of  every  member  of  society.  How  far  it  can 
at  any  moment  travel  in  the  direction  of  compelling  better 
conditions  is  a detail  to  be  determined;  but  certain  it  is 
that  the  fundamental  basis  of  modern  statesmanship  is 
violated  by  the  notion  that  certain  members  can  be  sacri- 
ficed, body  and  soul,  in  order  to  win  a trivial  police  ad- 
vantage ! Prostitution  exists  and  on  a large  scale.  The 
state  is  bound  to  face  the  fact,  bound  to  admit  its  present 
existence, — its  long  history  in  the  past,  its  menace  for  the 
future.  But,  be  the  outlook  for  its  extermination  or  re- 
duction good  or  bad,  favorable  or  unfavorable,  at  the  very 
least  the  whole  weight  of  the  state’s  power  and  influence, 
direct  and  indirect,  must  be  thrown  against  it  as  waste- 
ful, demoralizing,  and  infamous.  If  positive  measures 
are  feasible,  they  must  be  taken;  if  social  disapproval  is 
even  slightly  deterrent,  it  must  be  proclaimed  with  all  the 
authority  of  society.  “ The  law  must  be  a teacher  ” in 
so  far  at  least  as  it  embodies  an  expression  of  what  ought 
to  be.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  state  can  take  this 
position  — whatever  its  value  — and  yet  authorize  pros- 
titution on  any  ground  whatsoever, — absurd  to  preach 
continence  and  to  license  vice. 

True  enough,  no  police  officer  in  Europe  admits  that 
regulation  licenses  vice.  But,  whatever  the  legal  theory 
be,  it  does,  nevertheless ! The  prostitute  believes  that  she 
is  practising  a trade  regulated  by  society,  that  society  sim- 

283 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ply  prescribes  rules  for  the  conduct  of  her  business. 
There  is,  therefore,  no  more  pathetic  incongruity  than 
that  which  is  presented  in  the  morals  bureau  of  Berlin, 
Munich  and  Budapest,  where  a social  worker  is  installed 
for  the  purpose  of  dissuasion,  while  the  police  officer 
waits  in  the  adjoining  room  ready  to  authorize  the  career 
from  which  well-meaning  but  ineffective  pleading  has  first 
endeavored  to  deter.  The  permission  implied  in  the 
existence  of  regulation  is  at  cross  purposes  with  the 
sound  attitude  implied  by  the  effort  to  persuade  the  girl  to 
renounce  her  vicious  ways.  The  social  effort  under  these 
circumstances  is  little  more  than  a sop  to  the  popular  de- 
mand that  the  state  address  itself  with  all  its  might  to 
prevention  and  to  salvation  and  under  no  circumstances  to 
authorization. 

This  then  is  the  final  and  weightiest  objection 
to  regulation:  not  that  it  fails  as  hygiene,  not  that 
it  is  contemptible  as  espionage,  not  that  it  is  un- 
necessary as  a police  measure,  but  that  it  obstructs  and 
confounds  the  proper  attitude  of  society  towards  all 
social  evils,  of  which  prostitution  is  one.  Men  can  re- 
frain; the  state  must  do  nothing  to  make  indulgence 
easier.  Women  must  be  saved,  if  possible;  rescued,  if 
preventive  measures  have  come  too  feebly  or  too  late. 
These  sentences  sum  up  the  simple  and  entire  duty  of  the 
state.  Society  must  presume  that  the  human  spark  has 
not  been  utterly  quenched  in  the  wrecked  soul, — a fact 
that  is  not  without  support  from  experience.  As  against 
all  this,  inscription  entices  the  girl,  offering  her  a quid 
pro  quo  if  she  crosses  the  line.  Thus  it  snaps  the  last 
weak  thread  that  ties  her  to  decent  occupation  or  other 

284 


The  Real  Inwardness  of  Regulation 

associations.  In  its  ultimate  effect,  therefore,  it  is  a 
compact  with  vice,  whatever  the  language  employed.  It 
may  not  intend  to  encourage  vice,  but  by  conceding  to 
vice  a privileged  position,  it  discourages  all  effort  to 
prevent  or  uproot  it. 


285 


CHAPTER  IX 


ABOLITION  AND  ORDER 

Meaning  of  term  “ Abolition.” — Immediate  effect  of  abolition. — 
General  distinction  between  regulation  and  abolition. — Abolition  not 
laissez-faire. — Provisions  of  English  law  as  to  street-walking, — 
as  to  brothels. — Legislation  in  Norway, — in  Denmark, — in  Holland, 
— in  Switzerland. — Public  opinion  an  important  factor. — Actual  con- 
ditions as  to  street-walking  in  London. — General  improvement. — 
Actual  conditions  as  to  vice  resorts. — Effects  of  London  policy. — 
Comparison  with  continental  cities. — Abolition  and  the  police. — 
Conditions  in  provincial  and  Scottish  towns. — Conditions  in  aboli- 
tion towns  on  the  Continent. — The  suppression  of  bordells. — Street- 
walking in  Copenhagen, — in  Christiania, — in  Dutch  cities. — No  loss 
through  abolition. — Prostitution  and  vagabondage. — The  domicile 
problem. — Prostitution  and  crime  in  abolitionist  communities. — 
Morals  police  in  abolition  communities. 

The  term  abolition  is  more  or  less  widely  misunder- 
stood. Not  infrequently  it  is  supposed  to  mean  “ the 
abolition  of  prostitution,”  and  abolitionists  are  repre- 
sented as  bent  upon  summarily  abolishing  prostitution 
through  statutory  enactment  or  otherwise.  As  a matter 
of  fact,  abolition  refers  only  to  the  abolition  of  laws  and 
police  ordinances  regulating,  recognizing,  or  licensing  the 
practice  of  prostitution ; 1 and  abolitionists  are  those  who 
oppose  all  statutory  enactments  or  police  decrees  author- 
izing the  inscription  or  medical  examination  of  prosti- 

1 Strictly  speaking,  no  community  can  be  an  abolition  community 
unless  it  has  previously  had  regulation;  but  in  this  chapter  — and 
indeed  generally  — the  term  abolition  is  also  applied  to  cities  that, 
without  ever  having  had  regulation,  are  opposed  to  the  adoption  of 
that  or  any  similar  policy ; and  persons  are  called  abolitionists  if  they 
are  opposed  to  the  things  implied  by  regulation. 

286 


Abolition  and  Order 


lutes,  as  well  as  all  laws  which  bear  upon  only  one  of  the 
two  parties  involved.  Still  another  misconception  will  be 
exposed  in  the  course  of  the  present  chapter:  opponents 
of  abolition  (i.  e.,  those  favoring  regulation)  often  as- 
sume that  abolition  is  identical  with  laissez-faire ; they 
argue  that  if  the  regulatory  system  is  swept  away  no 
apparatus  remains  by  means  of  which  prostitution  can 
be  kept  in  bounds,  and  their  terrified  imaginations  at  once 
conjure  up  pictures  of  abolitionist  communities  over- 
whelmed by  the  rising  tide  of  immorality  and  disease. 
Without  at  all  prejudging  the  case  either  in  favor  of  or 
against  abolition,  the  notion  that  abolition  is  a purely 
negative  policy  beginning  and  ending  with  the  ignor- 
ing of  prostitution  may  be  characterized  as  baseless. 
Unquestionably,  such  might  be  the  case.  A community 
might  refuse  to  recognize  prostitution  by  regulation,  and 
might,  like  the  ostrich,  bury  its  head  in  the  sand,  re- 
fusing to  admit  the  existence  of  prostitution  as  a phe- 
nomenon requiring  the  attention  of  society.  But,  to  be 
candid,  this  is  nowhere  the  case,  though  one  frequently 
and  commonly  hears  it  said.  The  abolition  of  regula- 
tion has  nowhere  resulted  in  a laissez-faire  policy. 
Against  both  the  above  errors  we  need  therefore  to  be 
warned  at  the  outset.  Abolition  means  only  the  abolition 
of  regulation,  not  the  abolition  of  prostitution ; abolition 
does  not  require  that  prostitution  be  ignored,  overlooked, 
tabooed,  or  treated  in  a spirit  of  prudery  as  non-existent : 
it  is  entirely  consistent  with  thorough  inquiry  into  the 
whole  phenomenon,  and  constructive  social  action  aiming 
to  deal  with  it. 

Generally  speaking,  the  immediate  effect  of  abolition 

287 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

is  to  place  the  mere  act  of  prostitution  in  the  same  posi- 
tion as  any  other  private  vice.  The  prostitute  as  such 
is  like  the  drunkard  as  such,  or  the  opium-eater.  A 
woman,  for  example,  who  prostitutes  herself  for  money 
is  in  abolition  communities  in  the  eye  of  the  law  in  pre- 
cisely the  situation  of  the  man  whom  she  has  gratified: 
if  the  pair  give  no  offence,  the  State  takes  no  cognizance 
of  the  act.  The  intervention  of  the  law  is  conditioned 
not  on  the  act  itself,  but  on  certain  conditions  or  results 
which  make  it  something  more  than  an  affair  involving 
two  participants.  If  decency  is  violated,  if  disorder  is 
created,  if  neighbors  are  scandalized,  in  some  countries 
if  disease  is  communicated,  society  considers  itself  war- 
ranted in  interfering,  just  as  it  interferes  in  other  circum- 
stances to  preserve  or  to  promote  the  peace  and  health 
of  the  community.  So  far,  there  would  appear  to  be 
little  difference  between  what  happens  in  regulated  and 
what  happens  in  unregulated  towns.  In  Paris,  as  in 
London,  in  Budapest,  as  in  Copenhagen,  the  mere  act 
of  irregular  copulation  is  not  regarded  as  a crime,  even 
though  money  passes ; even  in  Germany,  despite  the  letter 
of  the  German  law,  which  brands  all  non-register ed  pro- 
fessional prostitution  as  criminal,  inoffensive  prostitu- 
tion for  money  is  treated  like  ordinary  immorality  and 
is  not  interfered  with.  On  the  other  hand,  everywhere 
the  authorities  act  whenever  the  usual  order  of  the  com- 
munity is  disturbed  by  prostitutes  or  prostitution.  So 
far,  then,  I say,  regulation  and  non-regulation  are  alike. 
There  are,  however,  two  distinct  differences.  In  regu- 
lated towns,  inscribed  prostitutes  are  treated  differently 
from  non-inscribed  prostitutes;  in  non-regulated  or  abo- 

288 


Abolition  and  Order 


litionist  towns,  all  prostitutes  are  regarded  as  alike.  In 
regulated  towns,  what  is  an  offence  if  committed  by  a 
non-inscribed  woman  is  not  an  offence  if  done  by  an  in- 
scribed woman.  In  non-regulated  towns  whatsoever  con- 
stitutes a violation  of  law  on  the  part  of  A would  con- 
stitute a violation  of  the  law  on  the  part  of  B.  If  street- 
walking is  forbidden  to  one,  it  is  forbidden  to  all;  it 
is  not  allowed  to  one  sort  of  prostitute  (viz.,  the  regis- 
tered prostitute)  and  denied  to  another  (viz.,  the  un- 
registered, falsely  called  clandestine)  prostitute.  If  dis- 
orderly houses  are  illegal,  they  are  illegal : they  are  not 
legally  authorized  for  one  group  of  women  and  criminal 
for  another  group.  From  the  standpoint  of  positive 
policy,  this  is  a significant  difference,  for  it  favors  the 
formulation  of  a general  policy  applicable  to  the  phe- 
nomenon as  a whole.  Regulation  is,  as  I have  pointed 
out,  a policy  of  exceptions;  and  wherever  a fractional 
policy  is  adhered  to,  the  exemptions  operate  as  a drag 
upon  a comprehensive  program;  the  exceptions  impede 
and  hamper  the  conception  or  the  execution  of  any  plan 
conceived  in  reference  to  the  entire  problem. 

The  second  distinction  relates  to  the  legal  forms  em- 
ployed in  dealing  with  infractions  of  public  order.  I 
have  described  the  methods  employed  in  regulated  towns ; 
by  the  act  of  inscription  the  woman  surrenders  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  a human  being;  she  makes  herself  a le- 
gal, as  she  is  already  a social,  pariah.  The  police  may  use 
their  arbitrary  powers  as  considerately  as  they  will ; their 
behavior,  if  humane,  comes  to  the  outcast  as  a matter  of 
grace,  not  of  right;  except  through  the  pressure  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  the  woman  has  no  assurance  of  humane  treat- 

289 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ment, — she  has  no  recourse,  no  redress,  no  rights.  In 
abolitionist  countries,  offences  against  order,  decency,  or 
health  committed  by  prostitutes  are  handled  precisely  as 
are  the  same  offences  when  committed  by  other  persons. 
The  law  operates  along  established  lines  for  all  offenders 
alike.  If  summary  procedure  is  prescribed  — i.  e.,  a 
hearing  before  a magistrate  without  a jury  — • it  is  pre- 
scribed for  all  persons  accused  of  the  offences  in  ques- 
tion. In  any  event,  the  accused  has  every  opportunity 
and  facility  to  make  a defense, — attorneys,  witnesses, 
and  the  right  of  cross-examination.  She  can  be  con- 
victed only  by  regular  processes,  based  on  the  explicit 
law  of  the  land;  in  England,  a writ  of  habeas  corpus 
would  promptly  take  her  before  a court  of  competent 
jurisdiction,  if  any  ground  for  arbitrary  detention  could 
be  made  out.  I do  not  say,  at  this  juncture,  that  the 
two  points  just  instanced  are  of  themselves  enough  to 
justify  abolition.  The  issue  between  regulation  and 
abolition  will  in  this  book  be  decided  by  the  outcome  of  a 
comparison  between  them  in  respect  to  order  and  disease, 
— the  two  aspects  of  prostitution  with  which  regulation 
undertakes  to  deal.  Nevertheless,  the  characteristic  dif- 
ferences above  touched  on  cannot  be  overlooked,  if  the 
situation  is  to  be  grasped  in  all  its  essential  bearings. 

Though  consistent  in  their  indifference  to  prostitution 
in  itself,  the  statutes  of  abolitionist  countries  provide 
more  or  less  amply  for  the  phenomena  that  are  its  prompt 
and  wellnigh  inevitable  accompaniments:  so  prompt  and 
so  inevitable  indeed,  that,  for  practical  purposes,  prosti- 
tution itself  can  almost  be  said  to  be  dealt  with.  A 
woman  may  indeed  prostitute  herself  with  impunity ; but 

290 


Abolition  and  Order 


if  without  reputable  occupation,  she  may  be  taken  up 
as  a vagabond.  She  may  sell  her  favors  without  for 
that  act  incurring  the  penalties  of  the  law;  but  she  may 
be  taken  up  for  street-walking,  for  solicitation,  for  keep- 
ing a brothel, — for  any  one,  indeed,  of  the  steps  by 
means  of  which  she  procures  trade  enough  to  keep  breath 
in  her  wretched  body.  Abolition  is  therefore  not  nec- 
essarily crippled  in  the  matter  of  dealing  with  nuisances; 
but  the  offending  woman  is  prosecuted,  not  because  she  is 
a prostitute,  but  because  she  has  made  herself  obnoxious 
in  practising  prostitution. 

Close  as  the  prostitute  thus  always  is  to  the  clutch  of 
the  law,  the  distinction  in  principle  is  broad  and  clear. 
The  prostitute  is  an  object  of  police  action  in  abolition 
countries  only  when  guilty  of  offences  against  order  and 
decency.  Her  business  can  with  difficulty  be  conducted 
without  such  offences.  Nevertheless,  as  long  as  police  in- 
terference is  conditioned  on  the  offences  in  question,  no 
novel  or  dangerous  police  function  is  created, — such  as 
would  be  created  if  the  police  were  asked  to  intervene 
on  the  ground  of  immorality.  In  the  latter  case,  they 
would  be  required  to  discharge  an  entirely  new  duty,  dis- 
tinct in  quality  from  anything  else  they  do:  they  would 
become  “ custodes  morum  ” — guardians  of  public  mor- 
als, instead  of  guardians  of  the  public  peace.  To  do 
the  latter  they  are  competent,  for  breaches  of  the  peace 
are  open,  obvious,  concrete, — perceptible  by  the  ordinary 
senses  of  sight  and  hearing.  It  is  quite  different  with 
offences  in  the  forum  of  morals.  These  are  at  times  dif- 
ficult to  detect,  and  involve  subtle  or  problematic  distinc- 
tions which  the  police  are  too  crude  an  instrument  to 

291 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

make.  Hence,  as  long  as  the  police  deal  with  the  con- 
crete infractions  by  means  of  which  prostitution  tends 
to  bring  itself  into  the  net,  they  can  act  consistently; 
should  their  range  be  extended  so  as  to  cover  prostitu- 
tion as  such,  a partial  policy  would  result : they  could  not 
act,  unless  guilt  were  obvious;  and  this  justified  failure 
would  create  precisely  the  opportunity  for  corruption 
and  collusion  that  originates  from  regulation.  Finally, 
in  so  far  as  disorder  leads  to  police  interference  with  pros- 
titution, both  parties  to  the  act  may  be  apprehended. 
Were  prostitution  as  such  made  a crime,  only  the  woman 
would  be  reached.  For  all  these  reasons,  abolition  legis- 
lation has  consistently  viewed  prostitution  as  a vice,  at- 
taching penalties  only  to  its  objectionable  manifestations. 

We  have  seen  in  a previous  chapter  how  prostitution 
tends  to  certain  forms  or  expressions, — street-walking 
and  brothels,  for  example ; how  it  tends  to  associate  itself 
with  certain  occupations  or  activities, — the  stage,  the 
cafe,  the  public  dance  hall,  and  a few  employments,  gen- 
uine or  otherwise.  The  present  chapter  will  tell  how 
these  various  aspects  are  dealt  with  in  abolitionist  com- 
munities and  will  endeavor  to  decide  whether  regulation 
possesses  any  advantage  over  abolition  in  respect  thereto.2 

The  English  law  provides : 3 “ Every  common  prosti- 

2 Following  the  division  made  in  discussing  regulation,  I shall  in 
this  chapter  deal  with  order  only;  disease  is  remanded  to  the  suc- 
ceeding chapter. 

3 A very  convenient  manual  of  English  Law  dealing  with  all  phases 
of  the  subject  is  available:  W.  A.  Bewes,  “A  Manual  of  Vigilance 
Law”  (2nd  Edition  by  W.  F.  Crails),  London,  1905.  The  law.  deal- 
ing with  solicitation  is  summarized  and  luminously  discussed  in  the 
Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  upon  the  duties  of  the  Metropolitan 
Police,  Vol  I,  p.  323  (London,  1908).  This  report  will  be  referred  to 
in  this  chapter  as  Report,  Roy.  Com . 


292 


Abolition  and  Order 


tute  or  night-walker  loitering  and  importuning  passen- 
gers for  the  purpose  of  prostitution  in  any  street,  to  the 
obstruction,  annoyance,  or  danger  of  the  residents  or 
passengers  ” 4 may  be  arrested  by  a constable  5 without 
warrant  and  on  summary 6 conviction  be  fined  40s.  or 
imprisoned  fourteen  days.  In  the  Metropolitan  Police 
District  of  London  a prostitute  is  liable  to  the  same  pen- 
alty, even  though  actual  solicitation  is  not  proved.7 
The  English  police  have  therefore  full  power  and  author- 
ity to  clear  the  streets.8 

The  law  is  equally  clear  on  the  subject  of  disorderly 
houses  or  brothels.  A brothel  is  in  England  defined  as 
a “ place  resorted  to  by  persons  of  both  sexes  for  the 
purpose  of  prostitution  ” ; it  need  not  be  a whole  house 
and  may  be  a single  room,  but  it  does  not  include  a house 
that  is  occupied  by  one  woman  who  is  there  visited  by 
many  men  for  the  purposes  of  unlawful  intercourse  nor 
a house  let  out  in  separate  apartments  to  prostitutes  in 
which  the  owner  does  not  live  and  over  which  he  has 
no  control.9  The  English  definition  is  thus  broad  enough 
to  include  not  only  outright  resorts,  where  prostitutes 
live  and  practise  their  trade,  but  rendezvous  houses  and 

4 Towns  Police  Clauses  Act , 1847,  Section  28.  The  Vagrancy  Act 
of  1824  may  also  be  invoked  against  a “ prostitute  wandering  in  the 
public  street  or  in  any  place  of  public  resort  and  behaving  in  a 
riotous  or  indecent  manner.”  c.  83,  Section  3. 

5 I.  e.,  patrolman  or  policeman. 

6 Summary  conviction  does  not  mean  that  the  woman  is  without 
witnesses  or  attorney. 

7 By  2 and  3 Victoria  c.  47,  subs.  11. 

8 There  are  no  statutory  provisions  expressly  relating  to  the  an- 
noyance of  women  by  men  in  the  streets.  The  Royal  Commission 
was  however  of  opinion  that  insults  of  this  kind  could  be  dealt  with 
under  the  Metropolitan  Police  Act,  1839,  Section  54,  13.  See  Re- 
port, pp.  33,  118-120. 

8 Manual,  p.  8,  where  cases  are  cited. 

293 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

hotels  where  rooms  are  let  for  immoral  purposes  to  tran- 
sient customers  without  baggage.  The  Common  Law 
viewed  the  brothel  as  a nuisance,  on  the  same  footing 
as  a gaming-house  or  any  place  frequented  by  noisy  and 
disreputable  characters.  It  could  be  proceeded  against 
by  indictment,  because  it  “ endangers  the  public  peace  by 
drawing  together  dissolute  and  detached  persons.” 10 
Any  person  might  initiate  prosecution  and  recover  a re- 
ward, if  the  prosecution  were  successful.  With  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act  of  1885,  how- 
ever, more  expeditious  procedure  was  introduced.  The 
Act  penalizes  “ any  person  who  keeps  or  manages  or  acts 
or  assists  in  the  management  of  a brothel,”  permits  the 
use  of  premises  he  controls  for  the  purposes  of  habitual 
prostitution  or  is  a party  to  such  use.11  Places  kept  for 
public  dancing,  music,  and  other  forms  of  entertainment 
as  well  as  taverns,  lodging-houses,  etc.,  must  be  licensed ; 
and,  as  we  shall  see,  their  relations  to  the  practice  of 
prostitution  have  been  greatly  affected  by  the  general 
change  of  policy  in  this  respect. 

The  statutes  governing  the  provincial  and  Scottish 
cities  are  not  the  same  in  all  respects  as  those  applicable 
to  London,  but  in  the  upshot  there  is  little  difference. 
The  Towns  Police  Clauses  Act  already  referred  to  is  the 
legal  warrant  on  the  basis  of  which  the  provincial  au- 
thorities proceed.  Certain  towns,  however,  operate  un- 
der special  acts,  not  materially  different  in  theory  or  ap- 
plication. The  law  of  Glasgow,  for  example,  runs  as 
follows : “ Every  prostitute  or  street -walker  who  on  or 

10  Russell  on  Crimes  (6th  Edition)  Vol.  I,  p.  740. 

11  Crim.  Law  Amend.  Act , 1885,  c.  49,  Section  13. 


294 


Abolition  and  Order 


near  any  street  loiters  about  or  importunes  passengers 
for  the  purpose  of  prostitution  shall  be  liable  to  a pen- 
alty.,,  12  In  so  far,  therefore,  as  the  letter  of  the  law 
is  concerned,  it  is  clear  that  abolition  in  England  by  no 
means  involves  a policy  of  laissez-faire  as  respects  the 
outward  manifestations  of  prostitution.  This  is  per- 
haps a sufficient  refutation  of  the  commonly  made  state- 
ment that  the  English  law  “ ignores  prostitution/’  “ shuts 
its  eyes  to  it,”  “ refuses  to  recognize  its  existence,”  etc. 
As  to  all  these  points,  English  law  exactly  corresponds 
with  that  of  many  continental  nations ; it  deals,  not  with 
prostitution  in  itself,  but  with  scandal  arising  in  connec- 
tion therewith.  Further,  the  English  law  differs  from 
that  of  some  continental  nations  in  refusing  to  authorize 
or  license  prostitution,  but  in  so  doing  it  occupies  pre- 
cisely the  position  of  certain  other  continental  nations 
that  maintain  the  same  position. 

At  the  present  time,  the  abolition  legislation  of  Nor- 
way and  that  of  Denmark  — largely  modeled  upon  it  — 
are  perhaps  the  most  influential  of  all  statutory  enact- 
ments dealing  with  prostitution.13  In  Norway,  a severe 
penalty  is  attached  to  the  maintenance  of  houses  of  pros- 
titution ; the  ordinary  provisions  of  the  criminal  code  en- 
able the  police  to  arrest  women  for  intoxication,  for  solic- 
itation, and  for  other  violations  of  decency;  the  prosti- 
tute can  also  be  proceeded  against  on  the  ground  of  vaga- 
bondage. Persons  who  for  their  own  profit  aid  “ in  the 
immoral  intercourse  of  others  or  take  advantage  of  such 

12  Report  Roy.  Com.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  124. 

13  This  is  especially  true  in  respect  to  the  communication  of 
venereal  contagion;  but  consideration  of  this  portion  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian statutes  is  postponed  to  the  next  chapter. 

295 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

immoral  intercourse”  are  liable  to  imprisonment  up  to 
two  years.14 

The  Danish  law  of  1906  follows  along  the  Norwegian 
lines.  It  repeals  the  law  of  1866,  by  which  regulation 
had  been  instituted,  and,  as  Police  Inspector  Schepelern- 
Larsen  acutely  remarked,  the  “prostitute’s  recalcitrancy 
was  rewarded,”  for  the  woman  twice  punished  as  a com- 
mon prostitute  had  — as  elsewhere  — been  inscribed  and 
was  thereafter  privileged  to  pursue  the  course  for  en- 
tering upon  which  she  had  twice  suffered  a penalty ! The 
new  law  abolishes  this  privilege;  it  denounces  the  com- 
mon prostitute  as  a vagabond  15  and  renders  her  amenable 
to  the  consequences  of  vagabondage ; any  one  who  solicits 
or  invites  immorality  in  such  wise  as  to  offend  against 
the  sense  of  shame,  causes  public  scandal,  or  annoys  a 
neighbor  is  liable  to  punishment ; 16  bordells  are  expressly 
forbidden,  and  severe  penalties  are  aimed  at  those  con- 
ducting places  of  assignation;  the  police  are  empowered 
to  prevent  keepers  of  hotels,  cafes,  and  restaurants  from 
utilizing  immoral  women  as  waitresses. 

The  Dutch  law  of  1911  for  the  prevention  of  immoral- 
ity bears  with  especial  severity  on  the  violation  of  minors 
and  the  promoting  of  immorality  — the  latter  intended  to 
suppress  bordells,17  and  to  prevent  third  parties  from 

14  All  Norwegian  laws  bearing  on  this  subject  have  been  brought 
together  in  a special  pamphlet  issued  by  the  Norwegian  Law  Journal 
( Norsk  Lovtidende) . A useful  compilation,  unfortunately  no  longer 
up  to  date  is:  A.  Faerden,  Expose  des  dispositions  pennies  con- 
cernant  les  delits  contre  les  moeurs  dans  divers  pays.  (Christiania, 
1891.) 

15  Section  i.  I utilize  a German  translation  of  the  Danish  law ; 
it  is  called,  Gesetz  zur  Bekdmpfung  der  offentlichen  Unsittlichkeit 
und  der  venerischen  Ansteckung  (Berlin,  1907). 

16  Ibid , Section  2. 

17  Staatsblad  van  het  Koninkrijk  der  Nederlander.  No.  130 , Sec- 

296 


Abolition  and  Order 

profiting  through  the  demoralization  of  others.  Local 
ordinances  in  some  instances  go  even  further : in  Amster- 
dam, for  example,  owners  and  renters  are  forbidden  to 
“ afford  others  an  opportunity  for  immoral  acts,  either 
customarily  or  in  the  pursuit  of  gain  ” ; after  such  places 
have  been  closed  or  ordered  closed  “ it  is  prohibited  to 
visit  them.”  18 

Street  order  is  a matter  of  local  determination.  At 
Amsterdam  the  ordinance  reads : “ Women  are  forbid- 

den to  take  their  stand  on  the  steps  or  in  the  doorways 
of  taverns  and  beer-houses  or  other  houses  accessible  to 
the  public,  or  being  within  the  houses  to  attract  the  at- 
tention of  passers-by  to  themselves  by  a deliberate  act  of 
communication  or  exposure.”  19  But  a more  formidable 
weapon  is  put  in  the  hands  of  the  authorities  by  the  fol- 
lowing proviso : “ Women  are  forbidden  to  stand  in  the 

public  streets,  in  front  of  or  in  the  vicinity  of  the  places 
above  specified  or  on  the  corners  of  streets  in  which  such 
places  are  situated  or  to  walk  up  and  down  in  the  vicinity 
after  a police  officer  has  ordered  them  to  move  on.”  20 

It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  enter  into  the  question  at 
greater  length  in  order  to  show  that  abolition  does  not 
mean  laissez-faire;  in  all  the  countries  that  I visited,  abo- 
lition of  regulation  is  accompanied  by  definite  statutory 
authority  to  deal  adequately  with  prostitution  in  so  far 
as  it  imperils  order  and  decency.  Switzerland,21  where 

tion  250  bis.  The  sections  of  the  penal  code  are  supplemented  by 
local  ordinances. 

18  Algemeene  Politie  Verordening  Sections  201,  202. 

19  Ibid,  Section  205a. 

20  Ibid.,  Section  205  bis. 

21  The  Swiss  laws  are  brought  together  in  Weiss’s  book  already 
cited. 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  discussion  has  thus  far  been  left  to  cantonal  regula- 
tion,22 may  serve  as  a concluding  instance.  In  Zurich, 
to  take  a fair  representative,  persons  who  provide  oppor- 
tunity for  the  immorality  of  others  or  derive  a profit 
therefrom  (i.  e.,  bordell-keepers)  are  liable  to  heavy  fine 
and  five  years  of  hard  labor.23  For  the  maintenance  of 
decency  in  public  thoroughfares,  it  is  provided  that 
“ women  who  in  public  places  offer  themselves  for  im- 
moral purposes  or  tempt  thereto  may  be  imprisoned  up  to 
eight  days.”  24 

Clearly,  therefore,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  laws  are 
silent  or  ineffective  merely  because  prostitution  is  in  it- 
self regarded  as  a vice,  not  as  a crime;  on  the  contrary, 
legislation  may  in  non-regulated  countries  be  at  once  more 
comprehensive  and  more  consistent  than  in  regulated 
communities.  I have  already  instituted  a comparison  be- 
tween regulation  and  abolition  in  respect  to  certain  points. 
For  the  sake  of  simplicity,  it  may  be  well  to  continue 
this  method,  as  we  proceed.  As  far,  then,  as  the  legis- 
lation goes,  the  police  authorities  of  London,  Copenhagen, 
and  Christiania  evidently  have  a simpler,  more  logical 
and  more  thorough-going  statutory  basis  from  which  to 
proceed  in  the  protection  of  the  public  and  of  the  prosti- 
tute herself  than  is  possessed  by  the  police  of  any  reg- 
ulated town  or  country.  For  the  London  or  Copenha- 
gen police  can  at  least  go  as  far  as  the  police  of  Berlin 

22  This  explains  the  continued  existence  of  regulation  in  Geneva, 
where  the  French  influence  is  still  strong.  A new  Federal  Criminal 
Code  is,  however,  now  in  preparation.  I am  informed  by  jurists  of 
high  standing  that  the  new  law  will  surely  contain  provisions  which 
will  forbid  cantonal  regulation  by  means  of  a general  Federal  en- 
actment. 

23  Strafgesetzbuch  fur  den  Kanton  Zurich,  Sections  119,  120,  121. 

24  Strafgesetzbuch  fur  den  Kanton  Zurich f Section  128. 

298 


Abolition  and  Order 

or  Hamburg  and  they  can  act  consistently  in  reference 
to  all  prostitutes.  They  are  empowered  to  deal  with  the 
entire  phenomenon  in  so  far  as  it  endangers  public  or- 
der; at  no  point  are  they  balked  by  the  exemptions  that 
regulation  makes  in  favor  of  women  privileged  through 
inscription.  This  point,  however,  must  not  as  yet  be  re- 
garded as  decisive  of  the  issue.  It  still  remains  to  be  seen 
how  the  competing  systems  work. 

For  laws  do  not  enforce  themselves.  They  must  be 
converted  into  a policy  by  the  attitude  of  the  police,  by 
the  interpretations  of  the  courts,  by  the  demand  of  public 
opinion.  Let  us  consider  briefly  how  statutory  provisions 
are  modified  by  these  factors. 

Public  opinion  is  unquestionably  the  most  powerful  of 
influences.  Be  the  letter  of  the  law  what  it  may,  actual 
achievement  under  it  will  depend  first  and  foremost  on 
what  general  sentiment  demands  and  consistently  sup- 
ports. As  abolition  has  been  brought  about  in  part  by  agi- 
tation on  ethical  lines,  one  would  expect  a more  highly  de- 
veloped public  opinion  in  abolitionist  countries.  This  un- 
doubtedly exists.  The  suppression  of  the  public  bordell 
is  without  question  an  achievement  due  not  only  to  legis- 
lation, but  to  popular  insistence  that  police  and  courts 
enforce  the  law.  In  Germany  as  in  England,  the  bordell 
is  illegal ; but  public  opinion  in  Germany  being  less  highly 
developed  and  less  articulate,  the  law  remains  in  most 
places  a dead  letter. 

Curiously  enough,  public  opinion  in  this  entire  matter  is 
more  or  less  self-contradictory.  On  the  one  hand,  or- 
derly streets,  free  of  scandal,  are  required;  on  the  other 
hand,  a blunder  made  or  apparently  made  by  the  police  is 

299 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

violently  resented.  The  same  opinion  that  demands  the 
former  stands  ready  to  burst  into  flame  in  the  event  of  the 
latter.  The  Royal  Commission  which,  in  consequence  of 
a supposed  blunder,  investigated  the  London  police,  de- 
clared that  “ the  main  difficulty  in  enforcing  the  law  ( as 
to  solicitation)  is  caused  by  the  over-sensitiveness  and  im- 
patience of  the  public  whenever  there  seems  ground, 
however  slight,  for  alleging  that  there  has  been  a mistake 
in  arresting  a woman  on  a charge  of  solicitation.  Not 
only  the  particular  constable  who  effected  the  arrest,  but 
the  police  as  a whole  find  themselves  suddenly  the  object 
of  public  censure  in  the  press,  in  society  and  even  in  Par- 
liament. These  displays  of  emotion  are  curious  in  the 
case  of  a law-abiding  and  law-respecting  community  such 
as  ours  seeing  that  similar  feelings  of  indignation  are 
rarely  aroused  in  cases  where  men  are  acquitted  of  crime 
of  the  greatest  gravity.  Every  one  must,  however,  rec- 
ognize that  it  is  a very  terrible  misfortune  for  an  honest 
woman  or  girl  to  be  publicly  tried  on  a charge  involving 
an  imputation  of  peculiarly  disgraceful  unchastity. 
Whatever  may  be  the  causes  of,  or  excuses  for,  these 
gusts  of  popular  emotion,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
tend  to  some  extent  to  impair  the  activity  of  consta- 
bles.” 25  We  may  expect,  therefore,  to  find  actual  con- 
ditions not  so  good  as  the  law  to  the  extent  that  public 
opinion  fails  to  require  or  sustain  their  enforcement,  and 
to  the  extent  that  hypersensitiveness  or  hysteria  is  ready 
to  attack  the  police  where  absolutely  overwhelming  proof 
can  not  be  furnished  at  the  moment. 

The  construction  of  the  law  by  the  courts  — itself  both 

25  j Report,  Roy.  Com.,  p.  125  (somewhat  abridged). 

300 


Abolition  and  Order 

a result  and  a maker  of  opinion  — is  likewise  an  impor- 
tant factor  in  deciding  what  legislation  will  achieve. 
Wherever  magistrates  disagree  as  to  the  precise  inten- 
tion of  the  statute,  a twilight  zone  is  created,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  scope  of  the  law  is  indirectly  nar- 
rowed; for  official  policy  tends  to  restrict  itself  to  acts 
that  the  courts  will  be  sure  to  uphold.26  Finally,  the 
rules,  the  policy,  even  the  tradition  of  the  police  depart- 
ment in  applying  statutes  and  judicial  decisions  and  in 
endeavoring  to  meet,  without  outrunning,  the  demands  of 
public  opinion,  tend  now  to  stretch,  now  to  restrict,  the 
law  as  it  stands  on  the  statute  books.  For  example,  the 
Danish  statute  punishes  any  exhibition  or  act  that  dis- 
turbs order,  offends  the  sense  of  shame,  etc.  The  courts, 
it  is  now  pointed  out,  might  have  deprived  the  section  of 
all  its  force  by  requiring  the  production  of  a witness 
whose  sense  of  shame  was  actually  outraged.  They  have, 
however, — undoubtedly  governed  by  public  opinion  — 
construed  the  provision  to  refer  to  conduct  which  would 
naturally  give  such  offence, — and  the  policeman’s  evi- 
dence is  sufficient.  This  section  has  therefore  been  ef- 
fective. On  the  other  hand,  the  courts  have  held  that  it 
is  no  offence  for  prostitutes  to  gather  in  small  knots  on 
the  streets,— as  a result  of  which  the  phenomenon  has 
latterly  become  more  prominent  in  Copenhagen. 

26  The  importance  of  this  factor  from  a practical  point  of  view  is 
made  clear  by  the  following  considerations : “ Solicitation  per  se  is 

not  an  offence.”  ( Report , Roy.  Com.,  p.  119).  “In  a prosecution 
under  the  Metropolitan  Police  Act  there  must  be  evidence  sufficient 
to  satisfy  the  magistrate  that  the  woman  is  a prostitute.  Next,  there 
must  be  evidence  as  to  the  actions  of  the  woman  showing  that  she 
was  loitering  in  a thoroughfare  or  public  place  for  the  purpose  of 
prostitution  or  solicitation ; and,  lastly,  there  must  be  evidence  that 
her  action  was  to  the  annoyance  of  the  inhabitants  or  passengers.” 
Ibid.,  p.  49. 


301 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

It  is  our  present  task  to  ascertain  what  actually  happens 
in  abolitionist  communities  and  to  compare  the  results 
with  the  conditions  described  in  previous  chapters.  The 
practical  outcome  of  the  English  statutes,  as  interpreted 
by  the  courts  and  as  demanded  by  public  opinion,  is  re- 
flected in  the  regulations  promulgated  for  the  guidance 
of  constables  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  Metropolitan 
Police.  In  respect  to  brothels,  the  London  constable  is 
instructed  to  “ note  in  his  pocket-book  and  report  any 
house  apparently  used  as  a brothel.”  27  The  constable 
takes  no  further  step  on  his  own  initiative;  arrests  are 
made  on  direction  of  borough  or  other  authorities,  after 
complaint  by  neighbors  or  others  interested.28  Prosti- 
tutes on  the  street  are  to  be  dealt  with  discreetly  — “ not 
to  be  interfered  with  unnecessarily.”  The  names  of 
women  acting  like  prostitutes  are  to  be  reported ; women 
engaged  in  soliciting  are  to  be  warned  before  arrest ; 29 
annoyance  of  passers-by  is  to  be  prevented.30  The  police 
act  on  their  own  initiative  only  if  the  behavior  of  the 
woman  is  offensive,  annoying,  or  scandalous.  The  un- 
obtrusive prostitute  is  not  molested.  Keepers  of  licensed 
premises,  i.  e.,  liquor  establishments,  refreshment  houses, 
etc.,  are  to  be  reported  if  they  permit  prostitutes  habit- 
ually to  resort  to  their  establishments.31 

27  Duty  Hints,  Metropolitan  Police,  p.  n. 

28  As  a rule,  the  police  observe  a suspected  disorderly  house  on 
the  request  of  the  borough  authorities,  to  whom  results  are  com- 
municated ; the  aforesaid  authorities  act  by  warrant  or  otherwise. 
Social  and  other  organizations  occasionally  instigate  prosecutions. 

29  “ Prostitutes  cannot  legally  be  taken  into  custody  simply  be- 
cause they  are  prostitutes;  to  justify  their  apprehension  they  must 
commit  some  distinct  act  which  is  an  offence  against  the  law.” 
Report  Roy.  Com.,  p.  49  (quoting  White  Book  of  the  Department, 
pp.  338-9). 

30  Duty  Hints,  pp.  48,  5 7.  31  Duty  Hints,  pp.  35,  54. 

3°2 


Abolition  and  Order 


The  limitations  thus  placed  on  the  constable  are  partly 
due  to  the  size  of  the  area  covered.  I have  already  had 
occasion  to  remark  how  certain  situations  change  qual- 
itatively whenever  they  undergo  a radical  quantitative  ex- 
pansion. Centralized  supervision  of  the  individual  con- 
duct of  sixteen  thousand  policemen  dealing  with  so  del- 
icate a matter  as  prostitution  is  difficult  in  the  highest 
degree.  When  does  the  conduct  of  a woman  stamp  her 
as  a prostitute  in  such  wise  that  a magistrate  will  sustain 
the  constable  who  apprehends  her?  When  does  her  con- 
duct overpass  the  limits  of  toleration?  Shall  the  patrol- 
man enter  suspected  disorderly  houses  for  the  purpose 
of  satisfying  himself  as  to  their  character?  In  small 
towns,  where  everything  readily  becomes  notorious,  it 
is  a comparatively  simple  matter  to  check  up  the  doings  of 
the  police  ; where  the  head  is  sound  and  the  motives  are 
pure  — as  is  regularly  the  case  abroad  — 1 more  or  less  in- 
itiative may  be  safely  entrusted  to  a constable  who  is  thus 
easily  supervised.  But  in  London  the  magnitude  of  the 
task  would  expose  the  patrolman  to  grave  danger  of 
corruption  and  collusion.  He  might  be  corruptly  in- 
duced to  overlook  cautious  violations  of  the  law,  if  it 
were  made  his  duty  to  be  the  aggressor  in  taking  action ; 
or  he  might  be  tempted  to  levy  blackmail,  difficult  as  that 
would  be  under  existing  circumstances.32  His  initiative 
is  therefore  restricted  to  concrete  and  overt  instances. 
Further  steps  depend  on  the  action  of  higher  authorities, 

■ — * a machinery  readily  set  in  motion  by  protest  or  com- 
plaint. The  department  thus  has  the  guarantee  of  both 
evidence  and  supervision,  since  the  parties  who  lodge  the 

32  Testimony  of  Si f Edward  Henry,  Report , Roy.  Com. 

303 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

complaint  will  see  to  it  that  proper  steps  follow.  In  a 
peculiar  degree,  therefore,  it  is  true  that  in  London  con- 
ditions depend  on  the  state  of  public  opinion. 

In  consequence  of  the  policy  described  above  in  re- 
spect to  street-walking,  somewhat  spotty  conditions  char- 
acterize the  metropolis.  Women  are  distinctly  abun- 
dant in  the  streets  radiating  from  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
Trafalgar  Square,  Oxford  Circus,  Regent  Circus,  and  the 
various  railway  stations.  As  a rule  they  conduct  them- 
selves unobtrusively,  communicating  furtively  with  pass- 
ers-by, though,  after  midnight,  they  are  at  times  more 
aggressive.  Whenever  the  police  are  sustained  by  the 
aroused  public  opinion  of  a given  locality,  improvement 
ensues ; for  the  inhabitants  of  a given  neighborhood  hav- 
ing protested  become  checks  on  the  police  assigned  to  the 
district;  unless  action  is  taken  along  the  desired  lines, 
suspicion  is  awakened  and  protests  accumulate.  In  this 
way,  the  Strand,  only  a few  years  ago  one  of  the  scandals 
of  London,  has  been  rendered  comparatively  innocuous. 
Besides  the  transformation  wrought  in  particular  spots, 
an  unmistakable  general  improvement  is  noticeable 
throughout  London.  This  is  a fact  familiar  to  travelers 
returning  to  London  after  an  interval  of  a few  years;  it 
was  practically  the  unanimous  testimony  before  the  Royal 
Commission.  On  this  point  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  do 
more  than  to  quote  the  words  of  Mr.  W.  A.  Coote:  “ I 

have  known  London  for  the  past  forty  years,  and  my 
memory  goes  back  to  quite  forty-seven  years.  I knew 
the  Haymarket  and  Piccadilly  very  well  forty-seven  years 
ago  and  I say  that  London  to-day,  compared  with  what  it 
was  forty  years  ago,  is  an  open-air  cathedral.  Every- 

304 


Abolition  and  Order 


thing  has  gone  for  the  better.’’  33  The  laws  remain  the 
same,  but  popular  demand  has  caused,  or  enabled,  police 
and  courts  gradually  to  make  more  of  them.  The  in- 
creased activity  of  the  police  is  evidenced  by  the  greater 
frequency  of  arrests,  2,409  in  1901,  4,206  in  1905.  The 
courts  have  more  than  kept  pace.  Of  the  smaller  num- 
ber arrested  in  1901,  274  (11.4%)  were  discharged:  of 
the  larger  number  arrested  in  1905,  252  (6.3%)  were 
discharged.34  The  high  percentage  of  convictions  testi- 
fies to  the  discrete  manner  in  which  the  police  discharge 
their  duties. 

How  stands  it  with  the  brothel  or  disorderly  house?  35 
A brothel  — it  may  be  well  to  repeat  — is  a house  in 
which  prostitutes  live,  to  which  they  bring  or  in  which 
they  receive  their  patrons.  It  has  been  held,  however, 
that  no  brothel  exists  where  only  one  woman  prostitutes 
herself  for  money.  The  room  to  which  the  street- walker 
retires  with  her  prey  is  not  a brothel  in  the  meaning  of  the 
law.  But  wherever  two  or  more  women  occupy  premises 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  prostitution,  a brothel  ex- 
ists, no  matter  what  the  subterfuge  employed, — be  the 
quarters  in  question  their  living-rooms,  a pretended  man- 
icure or  massage  establishment,  or  what  not.  Such  re- 
sorts nowadays  lead  a stealthy,  uneasy,  transient  life  in 
many  sections  of  London,  including  the  suburbs.  In  the 
West  End  a few  fashionable  brothels  are  found,  located 
where  they  are  least  likely  to  be  noticed,  and  transacting 

33  Report,  Roy.  Com.,  p.  93. 

34  Ibid.,  Return  7,  XII,  XIII. 

35  The  term  “bordell,”  properly  meaning  a licensed,  recognized, 
or  tolerated  house  of  prostitution,  is  not  employed  at  all  in  Great 
Britain. 


305 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

their  business  with  a limited  clientele  procured  through’ 
introduction.  Much  more  frequent,  but  also  much  less 
stable,  are  the  brothels  of  the  Haymarket  region,  mask- 
ing as  massage  rooms,  baths,  as  schools  for  the  teaching 
of  foreign  languages  or  elocution,  or  as  rheumatism  cures. 
The  women  conducting  these  places  advertise  in  certain 
periodicals  and  even  send  “ sandwich  men  ” parading 
through  Regent  Street  and  Bond  Street.36  The  inmates 
are,  however,  very  careful  not  to  attract  the  attention  of 
others  in  the  same  house  or  in  the  neighborhood;  hence 
the  places  are  open  only  during  usual  business  hours, 
though  they  make  appointments  elsewhere  for  other 
times.37  The  police  are,  of  course,  usually  informed ; but 
in  accordance  with  their  policy  are  content  to  preserve 

36  These  brothels  not  infrequently  occupy  the  upper  floors  of  build- 
ings in  Regent  Street  and  Bond  Street,  the  floors  below  being  oc- 
cupied by  fashionable  shops. 

37  The  following  are  all  brothel  advertisements  clipped  from  a 
popular  one-penny  weekly: 

Skilful  Treatment  for  Muscular  Ailments  given  daily.  Hours 
12  .-30  till  7. — Shepherd,  Edgeware  Road,  Marble  Arch,  W.  (en- 
trance in  Little  Queen  Street) . Assistant  wanted  at  once. 


Care  of  hands  and  nails. — Miss  , Court  Chambers,  Maryle- 

bone  Rd.,  2nd  Floor  (entrance  in  Seymour  Place).  Assisted  by  spe- 
cialist from  Paris.  Hours  12  to  7.  Three  languages  spoken.  As- 
sistant wanted. 


Electrical  treatment  for  all  muscular  ailments.— - Apply  Nurse, 
— — Warren  Street,  Tottenham  Court  Road  (adjoining  Warren 
Street  Tube),  1st  floor.  Hours,  12  till  8. 

Newly  opened  Establishment. — Miss  , Nail  Specialist, 

Shaftesbury  Avenue,  Piccadilly  Circus,  W. 


Specific  Treatment  for  Rheumatism  by  Madame , Man- 

chester Street,  Manchester  Square,  W. 


A Trained  Nurse 

Has  Special  Oils  for  Muscular  Ailments. — Apply  - — 


Allsop 


Abolition  and  Order 


decorum  until  outside  agencies  move;  whereupon  the 
brothel  is  broken  up,  the  inmates  being  either  arrested 
or  dispersed.  Certain  sections  of  London  have  been 
greatly  improved  by  organization  work  of  this  type. 
For  example,  the  Central  South  London  Free  Church 
Council  has  been  beneficially  active  in  South  London. 
In  1909,  this  organization  prosecuted  68  brothel-keepers; 
in  1910,  53;  in  1911,  32;  the  reduction  being  due  not  to 
decreased  vigor,  but  to  better  conditions.38  The  activ- 
ities of  the  police  in  this  direction  are  exhibited  in  the 
following  table : 39 


Convicted,  held  to 
bail,  or  committed 


Taken 

into  Custody 

Discharged 

to  Reform 

School 

CO 

JV 

CO 

CO 

u 

cS 

<u 

CO 

JV 

73 

£ 

73 

a 

<u 

to 

3 

O 

H 

co 

JJ 

IS 

£ 

73 

a 

<u 

to 

73 

0 

H 

CO 

<D 

73 

£ 

73 

S 

<u 

to 

r— € 

-4-> 

O 

H 

1901  . . 

...145 

243 

388 

n 

27 

38 

134 

216 

350 

1902  . . 

142 

271 

413 

16 

25 

41 

126 

245 

37i 

1904  .. 

292 

442 

734 

30 

55 

85 

260 

386 

646 

1905  • ■ 

— 269 

431 

700 

29 

40 

69 

240 

390 

630 

1906  . . 

264 

403 

667 

24 

40 

64 

239 

363 

602 

1907 

....187 

305 

492 

14 

27 

41 

173 

278 

45i 

1908  . . 

....154 

192 

346 

13 

19 

32 

132 

152 

28440 

1909 

184 

219 

403 

1 7 

17 

34 

160 

174 

33 441 

I9IO  . 

no 

182 

292 

9 

16 

25 

90 

139 

229*2 

A certain  amount  of  repressive  activity,  evoked  in 
the  same  fashion  — viz.,  by  outside  protest  or  actual 
disorder  — goes  on  in  reference  to  assignation  hotels,  and 
other  resorts  apt  to  be  frequented  by  prostitutes.  The 
public  drinking-house  is  the  object  of  more  severe  meas- 
ures, in  furtherance  of  the  policy  of  reducing  the  number 

Place,  Flat  D (entrance  floor)  next  Madame  Tussaud’s,  Baker 
Street  Sta. 


French  lady  would  receive  a few  paying  guests  in  her  well- 
appointed  and  newly-decorated  house. — Apply  Madame , Hugh 

307 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  taverns.  A license  is  in  danger  of  cancellation,  when- 
ever prostitutes  are  harbored. 

English  activity  in  respect  to  prostitution  thus  involves 
the  suppression  of  brothels  and  the  gradual  improvement 
of  street  conditions.  Too  little  is  accurately  known  re- 
garding the  dimensions  of  the  prostitute  army  to  decide 
how  this  policy  affects  the  number  of  women  engaged. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  it  diminishes  the 
attractiveness  of  the  career  on  the  financial  side ; for  the 
women  are  practically  forced  to  pick  up  their  customers 
on  the  street  under  conditions  very  unfavorable  to  the 
canvass  for  trade,  and  in  the  long  run  diminished  returns 
must  check  the  recruiting  process,  on  the  professional 
side  at  any  rate.  If  by  reason  of  the  furtive  and  shifting 
manner  in  which  the  trade  must  be  plied,  the  volume  of 

St.,  Victoria  (Two  Minutes  from  Station).  Side  entrance.  As- 
sistant wanted. 


Sciatica  and  Rheumatism. 

Skilfully  treated  by  nurse.  Also  care  of  the  feet.  Glass- 

house Street,  Regent  Street ; one  minute  Piccadilly  Circus.  Hours, 
12  to  7.  Saturday,  12  to  6. 


French  lessons  and  conversation 
Given  by 

Madame  , 1 Oxford  Street,  W. 

Hours  1 to  9. 


In  a single  number  of  this  sheet  there  are  44  unmistakable  ad- 
vertisements of  this  kind.  A few  weeks  later,  the  above  advertise- 
ments had  mostly  disappeared,  new  ones  taking  their  place. 

38  Report,  July  31,  1911. 

39  Compiled  from  the  Reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Police. 
Acton,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  4,  6,  give  police  returns  for  1841,  1857  and  1868. 

40  In  29  cases  charges  were  proved  and  order  made  without  con- 
viction. 

41  In  34  cases  charges  were  proved  and  order  made  without  con- 
viction. 

42  In  37  cases  charges  were  proved  and  order  made  without  con- 
viction. 

308 


Abolition  and  Order 

business  is  slighter,  then  beyond  any  doubt  the  amount 
of  disease  disseminated  and  the  amount  of  financial  waste 
are  both  correspondingly  diminished. 

Our  main  interest  at  this  moment  is,  however,  compara- 
tive. London,  Berlin,  Paris,  and  Vienna  are  cosmopol- 
itan cities.  London  does  not  regulate  prostitution;  all 
the  others  do.  London  has  no  morals  police;  all  the 
others  have.  London  watches  prostitution  through  the 
ordinary  uniformed  force  acting  under  strict  instructions ; 
the  others  employ  plainclothes  men  with  special  powers. 

: London  possesses  no  arbitrary  police  process ; all  the 
others  do.  Does  London  suffer  in  the  comparison  in  re- 
spect to  public  order  and  decency?  Most  assuredly  not. 
The  Haymarket  may  perhaps  be  no  better  than  the  Boule- 
vards, Friederichstrasse,  or  Karntnerstrasse ; it  is  in  any 
case  no  worse.  Conditions  have  improved  everywhere; 
but  I suspect  there  has  been  more  amelioration  in  London 
and  that  it  is  likely  to  travel  further  than  anywhere  on 
the  Continent.  The  cities  differ,  of  course,  in  regard  to 
many  important  elements, — race,  tradition,  ideals ; and 
these  elements  affect  more  or  less  the  aspects  of  social 
order  with  which  we  are  dealing.  But  in  any  event  the 
evidence  warrants  us  in  concluding  that,  taking  the  ac- 
tual situation  as  we  find  it,  the  English  metropolis  shows 
no  sign  that  it  lacks  a police  instrument  that  the  others 
possess.  To  prove  that  such  an  instrument  confers  no 
comparative  advantage  is,  of  course,  conclusive  against 
it ; but  our  previous  examination  strengthens  the  case  for 
abolition  to  the  extent  that  it  disclosed  substantial  dis- 
advantages on  the  side  of  regulation. 

I am  by  no  means  disposed  to  imply  that  London  has 

309 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

exhausted  the  possibilities  of  wise  action  in  reference  to 
prostitution, — 'that  its  procedure  leaves  nothing  to  be 
desired.  There  would,  for  example,  appear  to  be  no 
good  reason  why  a prostitute  calling  herself  “ Nurse 
Dora  ” should  be  privileged  to  advertise  herself  on  bill- 
boards circulating  up  and  down  Regent  Street  and  Bond 
Street.43  But  at  this  juncture  I am  not  especially  con- 
cerned to  indicate  the  defects  of  any  particular  abolition 
town.  The  issue  is  for  the  moment  between  regulation 
and  abolition  and  we  are  interested  in  ascertaining 
whether,  as  the  matter  now  stands,  abolition  communities 
necessarily  fare  worse  in  respect  to  external  order  than 
regulation  communities,  and  whether,  in  general,  abolition 
promises  better  or  worse  results  than  regulation. 

The  London  method,  it  is  often  urged,  scatters  prosti- 
tution, thus  rendering  it  more  difficult  to  deal  with  and 
more  dangerous  to  the  innocent  poor.  Neither  assertion 
is,  as  compared  with  regulation  on  the  Continent,  actually 
or  necessarily  true.  In  so  far  as  prostitution  tends  to 
be  associated  with  crime,  dispersion  is  sound  policy;  the 
police  of  set  purpose  break  up  nests  of  crime.  Evil- 
doers— -prostitutes  among  them  — are  most  dangerous 
in  gangs;  dispersion  strips  them  of  power,  cunning,  and 
daring.  There  are,  however,  limits  to  dispersion,  fixed 
by  rental,  character  of  the  neighborhood,  etc.,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  birds  of  a feather  still  continue  to  flock 
together.  Hence  the  scattering  is  continually  interrupted 
by  brief  fortuitous  settlement  here  and  there,  or  by  longer 

43  These  women  conduct  brothels  in  the  sense  that  there  are  sev- 
eral “ nurses  ” or  “ assistants  ” on  the  premises  during  business  hours ; 
if  the  customer  is  not  pleased,  photographs  of  available  girls  are 
shown  and  almost  any  desired  type  is  promised  on  appointment. 

310 


Abolition  and  Order 


joint  sojournings  in  buildings  out  of  which  decent  peo- 
ple are  gradually  edged.  This  happens  in  London ; but, 
unfortunately  for  the  contrast  set  up  by  regulationists, 
it  happens  everywhere  else  as  well.  Prostitution  is  as- 
suredly no  more  widely  scattered  in  London  than  in  any 
of  the  other  cities  compared  with  it ; maps  showing  its  in- 
cidence would  abundantly  sustain  this  assertion.  Berlin 
is  in  this  respect  precisely  like  London ; the  Berlin  prosti- 
tute lives  anywhere,  wellnigh  everywhere,  and,  besides, 
frequently  possesses  a key  to  a room  in  an  apartment 
building  close  to  the  scene  of  her  nightly  perambulations. 
In  Paris  and  Vienna,  the  amount  of  bordelled  prostitu- 
tion being  negligible,  the  numerous  non-interned  women 
live  where  they  please;  in  Vienna,  indeed,  as  I have 
pointed  out,  the  police  rules  expressly  forbid  needless  in- 
terference with  their  preferences  as  to  domicile;  in  Paris, 
they  congregate  in  the  congenial  environment  of  Mont- 
martre and  the  Latin  Quarter ; but  they  are  not  excluded 
from  fashionable  thoroughfares  such  as  the  Avenue 
Victor  Hugo,  or  the  spokes  of  the  wheel  radiating  from 
the  Arc  de  Triomphe.  Abolition  does  not  suffer  by  com- 
parison with  regulation  in  this  respect. 

An  interesting  light  is  shed  on  the  relation  of  street 
and  bordell,  discussed  in  a previous  chapter,  by  the  ex- 
perience of  London.  Regent  Street  and  Piccadilly  are 
still  notorious  for  the  number  of  loose  women  frequent- 
ing them ; but  far  less  so  than  formerly  when  “ at  certain 
hours  they  became  so  crowded  with  undesirable  persons 
as  to  make  the  use  of  the  streets  irksome  to  respectable 
persons.”  44  In  this  same  area  over  three-hundred  dis- 

44  Report,  Royal  Commission,  p.  124. 

311 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

orderly  houses  have  been  closed  in  consequence  of  legal 
proceedings  in  the  division  of  St.  James,  covering  about 
three-quarters  of  a square  mile.  The  tightening  of  police 
control  may  explain  the  improvement  in  street  conditions ; 
but  the  coincidence  of  improved  streets  and  closed  brothels 
shows  clearly  that  suppression  of  brothels  does  not  nec- 
essarily result  in  aggravation  of  street  conditions;  there 
is,  as  I have  previously  pointed  out,  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve just  the  reverse. 

A word  as  to  the  effect  of  abolition  on  the  character  of 
the  police.  I have  emphasized  the  admirable  quality  of 
the  continental  police,  due  in  the  first  place,  unless  I err, 
to  the  secure  tenure,  the  independence,  integrity,  and  in- 
telligence of  the  commanding  officers;  the  weak  spot  — 
and  that  of  varying  seriousness  — is  the  morals  division, 
which,  capable  of  proving  anywhere  a localized  infection, 
has  in  some  instances  become  an  open  sore.  That  aboli- 
tion is  solely  responsible  for  the  difference  I do  not  affirm; 
but  it  is  at  least  noticeable  that  the  police  of  the  British 
metropolis  have  passed  practically  unscathed  through  the 
most  searching  criticism,— the  strongest  witness  in  be- 
half of  their  general  probity,  humanity,  and  helpfulness 
having  been  borne  by  those  who  know  most  of  their  re- 
lations with  prostitution.  Exceptions  were  indeed  found ; 
a force  approximating  17,000  men  could  hardly  be  en- 
tirely lacking  in  black  sheep.  For  example,  the  Royal 
Commission  verified  thirteen  complaints  preferred  by  su- 
perior officers  against  constables, — one  of  consorting 
with  prostitutes,  twelve  of  relations  with  brothel-keep- 
ers,45— all  severely  dealt  with ; but,  on  the  whole,  they 

45  Report,  Royal  Commission,  p.  100. 

312 


Abolition  and  Order 


“ had  no  hesitation  in  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
force  discharge  their  duties  (in  respect  to  prostitution) 
with  honesty,  discretion,  and  efficiency.”  46 

The  charge  most  readily  made  relates  to  the  corruption 
of  constables  by  prostitutes  in  the  street  with  a view  to 
securing  immunity  from  arrest.  I have  shown  the  prac- 
tical difficulties  in  the  way  of  controlling  this  matter  in 
regulated  towns  where  certain  women  have  the  right  to 
promenade, — • a right  which  can  be  corruptly  extended  to 
others,  and  no  one  be  the  wiser ; for  who  but  the  police- 
man can  judge  whether  a prostitute  is  entitled  to  the 
privilege  of  the  streets?  In  abolition  London  the  situa- 
tion is  so  far  different,  that  any  exceptions  raise  at  once 
a presumption  of  wrong-doing  or  negligence.  Hence, 
whatever  the  policy  pursued,  be  it  lax  or  strict,  uniformity 
is  necessary.  A decade  or  two  ago,  when  public  opinion 
was  indifferent,  aggressive  solicitation  went  on,  not  be- 
cause it  was  paid  for,  but  because  no  one  objected; 
nowadays,  certain  streets  have  been  cleared  and  no- 
where is  solicitation  actively  obtrusive,  because  public 
opinion  is  articulate  and  the  police,  however  inclined, 
would  not  dare  to  play  favorites.47  Sir  Edward  Henry, 
testifying  before  the  Royal  Commission,  declared : 
“No  complaint,  oral  or  written,  has  been  made  to  me 
during  the  three  and  a half  years  I have  been  Commis- 

46  Ibid,  p.  ioi. 

47  Whether  the  police  even  now  make  full  use  of  their  power  to 
clear  the  streets  is  a matter  on  which,  opinions  differ.  Certain  wit- 
nesses before  the  Royal  Commission  indulged  in  criticism  ( Report , 
p.  8i).  The  Commission  ultimately  came  to  . a conclusion  on  the 
whole  favorable  to  the  police.  In  my  own  opinion,  it  is  impossible 
to  reach  a single  and  simple  verdict.  London  is  better  or  worse 
according  to  the  requirement,  of  more  or  less  localized  public  opin- 
ion, the  general  tendency  being  towards  improvement. 

3*3 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

sioner,  charging  the  police  with  levying  blackmail  from 
women  of  the  unfortunate  class.  I am  satisfied  that  if 
any  individual  man  were  to  take  money  from  these 
women  it  would  come  to  the  knowledge  of  his  comrades, 
who  would  look  upon  him  as  an  unmitigated  blackguard 
and  that  he  could  not  remain  in  the  force  for  long.  I 
do  not  say  that  individual  instances  of  taking  money  may 
not  occur,  but  the  whole  force  know  that  any  proved  mis- 
conduct of  this  sort  would  be  severely  dealt  with.  It  is 
quite  impossible  that  there  should  be  any  systematized 
blackmailing,  because  the  variation  in  the  beats  is  so 
great  and  in  a street  like  Regent  Street  where,  on  either 
side  there  are  parts  of  ten  beats,  it  would  not  be  of 
the  slightest  use  to  a woman  to  bribe  the  first  constable 
she  came  to,  because  she  would  only  go  a few  yards 
before  she  came  to  another  beat.  Therefore  anything 
like  a system  of  blackmailing  is  impracticable  and  cer- 
tainly could  not  exist  many  days  without  being  known 
to  the  authorities/’  48 

To  restate  briefly  the  upshot  of  the  foregoing  discus- 
sion : as  compared  with  cosmopolitan  continental  cities 
that  regulate  prostitution,  London  has  lost  nothing  and 
actually  gained  something  through  its  abolition  policy. 
No  community  has  as  yet  envisaged  and  attacked  the 
entire  problem  involved  in  commercialized  prostitution, — 
no  community,  I say,  whether  regulationist  or  aboli- 
tionist. On  the  whole,  as  we  shall  also  see  in  the  next 
chapter,  abolitionist  cities  have  been  the  more  active 
in  initiative,  but  the  aggressive  conscience  of  the  world 

48  Ibid.,  p.  129,  slightly  abridged.  Sir’  Edward  Henry’s  evidence  is 
fully  sustained  by  that  of  Mr.  Coote,  p.  83. 


314 


Abolition  and  Order 


has  too  recently  awakened  to  have  as  yet  achieved  a great 
deal.  As  to  the  two  matters  now  concerning  us  — 
order  in  the  streets  and  brothels  — the  lowest  level 
reached  in  London  nowhere  falls  as  low  as  in  the  con- 
tinental capitals  where  regulation  is  in  vogue. 

The  police  of  the  English  metropolis  is  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Home  Office  of  the  National  Government; 
in  all  other  towns,  the  force  is  managed  by  the  Watch 
Committee  of  the  Town  Council.49  The  latter  are 
therefore,  perhaps,  a bit  more  sensitive  to  public  opinion 
and  depend  more  nearly  on  the  tone  of  the  municipal 
government.  Fortunately  in  Great  Britain  this  tone  is 
nowadays  high,  the  membership  of  the  Watch  Committee 
being  scrutinized  with  especial  care.  This  has  not,  how- 
ever, always  been  the  case.  As  recently  as  the  nineties 
the  Chairman  of  the  Watch  Committee  and  head  of 
the  licensing  board  in  Liverpool  was  the  attorney  of  the 
brewing  interests,  and  brewers  were  largely  represented 
on  the  committee  itself.  It  was  no  accident,  perhaps,  that 
with  these  conditions  the  town  possessed  a protected  vice 
district  containing  upwards  of  four  hundred  houses  and 
that  the  public  houses  (saloons)  systematically  harbored 
prostitutes.  A vigorous  agitation,  the  machinery  of 
which  is  still  preserved  and  in  motion,  resulted  in  a 
complete  rehabilitation  of  the  local  government.  The 
liquor  interest  was  excluded  from  the  Watch  Committee 
and  neither  in  Liverpool  nor  elsewhere  is  it  now  re- 
garded as  fit  to  be  represented  thereon;  the  unholy  al- 
liance between  prostitution  and  liquor  has  been  largely 

49  The  National  Government  is,  however,  not  wholly  without 
power  even  over  provincial  police  forces.  Mr.  Fosdick  will  give 
details  in  the  book  previously  referred  to. 

3T5 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

destroyed  by  the  ruthless  cancellation  of  licenses;  in 
Liverpool  the  number  has  already  been  reduced  from 
2,500  to  i,700.50  A determined  and  systematic  effort 
has  also  been  made  to  restore  the  streets  to  decency  and 
to  destroy  brothels.  For  this  work,  in  the  provinces 
and  Scotland,  as  in  London,  no  special  police  machinery 
exists.  Prostitution  is  handled  by  the  regular  force, 
uniformed  or  plain-clothes, — by  men,  that  is,  who  deal 
with  all  other  infractions  of  law.  There  is  no  morals 
division;  nor  is  any  effort  made  to  list  or  catalogue  the 
prostitute  as  such.  The  genial  inspector  of  the  Birming- 
ham police,  to  whom  I am  beholden  for  an  inner  view  of 
the  police  situation  there,  was  conscious  of  no  necessity 
for  any  special  machinery.  He  did  not  know  how  many 
prostitutes  there  were  in  Birmingham, — no  police  offi- 
cer had  ever  tried  to  find  out.  He  could  not  tell,  there- 
fore, whether  they  were  more  or  less  numerous.  Why 
should  he  ? The  law-abiding  prostitute  must  be  the  con- 
cern of  other  agencies.  The  law-breakers  among  them 
he  knew  and  watched  precisely  as  he  knew  and  watched 
law-breakers  of  other  kinds.  Walking  the  streets  at  mid- 
night, he  pointed  out  to  me  women  who  were  thieves 
and  pickpockets, — in  whom  he  was  interested  for  that 
reason  and  not  simply  because  they  were  prostitutes ; and 
he  showed  me  their  haunts, — precisely  as  the  haunts  of 
law-breakers,  prostitutes  and  others,  were  pointed  out 
to  me  in  London.  No  extraordinary  mechanism, — no 

50  In  Glasgow  the  number  of  licensed  premises  has  steadily  de- 
clined from  1,819  in  1892  to  1,565  in  1911.  City  of  Glasgow  Police , 
Criminal  Returns,  1911,  p.  56.  In  Birmingham,  the  reduction  has 
been  relative,  not  absolute ; there  were  2,163  licensed  establishments 
in  1881,  ratio  to  population  1:188;  2,368  in  1911,  ratio  to  population 
1 1354.  ( Report  of  Police  Establishment  1911,  p.  18.) 

3l6 


Abolition  and  Order 


mechanism,  I mean,  not  otherwise  needed  in  dealing  with 
urban  crime, — was  needed  in  either  place  for  this  pur- 
pose; and  no  lack  of  knowledge  or  power  to  cope  with 
individuals  or  with  emergencies  was  felt  or  betrayed; 
nor  was  the  integrity  of  the  force  imperilled  by  its  deal- 
ings with  prostitution,  for  that  integrity  was  safeguarded 
by  the  quality  of  the  head  officers,  by  the  principles  on 
which  recruits  were  procured,  and  by  the  limitations 
erected  by  statute. 

In  these  circumstances,  the  provincial  like  the  London 
brothel  leads  a stealthy  existence.  Two  or  more  women 
occupy  a house  or  flat51  for  a brief  period.  The  more 
prosperous  occupy  small  houses  on  the  edge  of  town ; the 
word  is  passed  through  cab-drivers  or  from  “ friend  ” to 
“ friend.”  In  certain  sections  of  Manchester  the  position 
of  the  window  shades  and  of  the  front  door  is  a signal 
to  the  initiated.  In  the  side  streets  leading  from  Oxford 
Street,  Manchester,  many  doors  are  significantly  ajar  up 
to  the  late  hours  of  the  night.  Shortly  conscious  of  be- 
ing observed,  the  women  fold  their  tents  and  steal  else- 
where, repeating  the  performance.  Not  infrequently, 
neighbors  complain  and  the  town  authorities  apprehend 
the  inmates,  subjecting  them  to  fine  or  imprisonment. 
Statistics  convey  some  notion  of  the  vigor  of  the  policy, 
— none  as  to  whether  the  evil  decreases  or  increases. 
In  Liverpool,  for  example,  there  were  162  prosecutions 
for  brothel-keeping  in  1902,  with  147  convictions;  196 
prosecutions  with  116  convictions  in  1910;  in  the  nine 
years  from  1902  to  1911,  there  were  altogether  1,720  ar- 

51  In  Birmingham  and  Manchester  there  are  no  “ flats  ” in  the 
London  sense. 


317 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

rests,  1,411  convictions.52  In  Edinburgh,  the  number 
of  brothels  known  to  the  police  shows  a marked  diminu- 
tion,— from  45  in  1901  to  29  in  1911, — not  unconnected 
perhaps  with  increased  severity  on  the  part  of  the  au- 
thorities who  arrested  nine  women  of  the  larger  number 
(45)  in  1901,  thirty- five  women  of  the  smaller  number 
(29)  in  19 1 1.63 

Street  conditions  have  undergone  precisely  the  same 
evolution  previously  described  as  generally  taking  place. 
Time  was  — and  that  within  recent  memory  — when 
importuning  on  the  main  highways  was  wellnigh  unre- 
strained. Nowadays  the  prostitute  walks  more  or  less 
swiftly  by,  indicating  her  object  by  a stealthy  glance  or 
mumbled  word.  Hoping  for  a nibble  she  retires  into  a 
side  street  waiting  to  be  approached  by  her  supposed 
quarry.54  If  disappointed,  she  resumes  her  inoffensive 
promenading.  The  public  houses  are  less  and  less  used 
for  this  purpose,  because  the  publican  fears  the  loss  of  his 
license.  If  an  arrangement  is  perfected,  the  pair  retire 
to  the  woman’s  room  or  to  an  assignation  hotel,  though 
the  latter  operate  with  great  caution.  Parks,  cabs,  even 
railway  compartments  are  utilized.  Not  infrequently  a 
journey  to  a suburb  is  urged;  in  Liverpool,  a street- 
walker suggested  “ Bootle,”  several  miles  distant,  as  the 

52 Report  of  Police  Establishment  1910,  p.  66  (Liverpool,  1911). 
Similar  information  is  contained  in  the  corresponding  reports  of 
other  cities. 

53  For  Edinburgh  statistics  I am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the 
chief  constable,  R.  Ross,  Esq.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  1911  the 
number  of  women  arrested  exceeds  the  number  of  known  brothels. 
This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  brothels  contain  several 
women  each. 

54  In  the  provincial  cities  as  in  London,  women  are  more  promi- 
nent in  the  Arcades  than  in  the  streets,  as  Arcades  are  private 
property. 

31s 


Abolition  and  Order 


nearest  place  that  was  sure  of  being  free  from  interrup- 
tion or  molestation. 

The  policy  described  keeps  the  brothel  inconspicuous 
and  relatively  infrequent;  it  renders  the  streets  fairly 
unobjectionable.  Does  it  accomplish  anything  more? 
The  officials  are  entirely  candid  on  this  point.  The  Bir- 
mingham inspector  “ does  not  believe  that  the  amount 
of  prostitution  has  been  decreased  through  keeping  it  ‘ on 
the  move  ’ or  through  punishment.  It  disappears  here, 
to  reappear  there.  Girls  are  easily  found ; but  ” — and 
I shall  recur  to  the  point  — -“they  tempt  less.”  A prom- 
inent and  experienced  member  of  the  Watch  Committee 
expressed  similar  views : “ The  present  policy  drives 

women  from  one  cover  to  another;  it  prevents  anything 
like  a tropical  growth.”  In  Edinburgh  the  actual  num- 
ber of  notorious  prostitutes  appears  to  have  been  re- 
duced, for  the  police  returns,  424  in  1901,  had  shrunk 
to  180  in  1911.55  The  Chief  Constable  of  Liverpool  in- 
clines also  “ to  think  that  the  decline  of  the  figures  over 
nine  years  corresponds  with  a reduction  in  professional 
prostitution,  but  it  seems  quite  possible  that  the  reduc- 
tion is  due  to  the  professional  being  ousted  by  the 
amateur.”  56 

It  seems  beyond  dispute  that  prostitution,  like  any 
other  business  enterprise,  suffers  when  deprived  of  the 
advantage  of  position.  What  hinders,  reduces.  The 
actual  number  of  customers  that  can  be  picked  up  by  a 
street-walker  compelled  to  forego  all  positive  advances, 
or  a woman  living  in  a brothel  the  location  and  character 

155  Communicated  by  Chief  Constable. 

66 Report,  1910,  p.  67  (slightly  abridged). 


319 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  which  can  only  be  allowed  to  leak  out  surreptitiously, 
is  bound  to  be  diminished ; and  the  diminution  of  custom- 
ers means  the  diminution  of  waste  and  disease.  The  in- 
ducement to  join  the  professional  ranks  is  thereby  les- 
sened. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  repression  and  punishment 
achieve  anything  with  the  hardened  offender.  The  Chief 
Constable  of  Glasgow  reporting  to  the  corporation  of 
the  city,  states : “ The  imposition  of  a fine  does  not 

prove  a deterrent;  any  person  may  pay  the  fine  and  the 
woman  continue  her  way  of  life.”  57  The  Chief  Con- 
stable of  Liverpool  reports  as  “ a typical,  not  exceptional  ” 
case  that  of  a prostitute  fifty  years  old,  first  convicted  in 
1884  and  in  1910  sent  to  prison  on  her  156th  con- 
viction.” 58  In  Edinburgh,  coincidently  with  the  reduc- 
tion in  the  number  of  notorious  women,  the  number  of 
arrests  rose  from  158  in  1901,  to  773  in  1911, — it 
reached  1,020  in  1910.  Did  the  increased  frequency  of 
arrests,  due  to  the  instructions  issued  to  the  police  to  act 
without  warning  lead  to  an  exodus  from  the  city?  Not 
improbably;  but  it  was  futile  for  the  reform  of  those 
who  remained,  for  some  of  them  were  convicted  as  many 
as  eight  or  ten  times  in  a single  year.  During  the  first 
six  months  of  1911,  331  women  under  23  years  of  age 
were  sent  to  Glasgow  prison;  220  of  these  were  con- 
victed of  importuning;  only  72  of  the  entire  number 
were  first  offenders ; among  the  others  some  had  been  pre- 
viously convicted  as  many  as  34,  50,  or  even  69  times.59 
Nor  are  hard-labor  sentences  more  efficacious  on  the 

57  Criminal  Returns,  1911,  p.  6. 

58  Report,  loc.  cit.,  p.  45. 

5QThe  Shield,  Nov.-Dee.,  1911,  p.  78. 

320 


Abolition  and  Order 


Continent  in  deterring  women  from  continuing  a dissolute 
life.  Of  those  thus  punished  at  Stockholm,  between  1882 
and  1884,  96.9%  persisted  in  their  evil  courses  after  the 
expiration  of  their  prison  terms;  between  1885  and  1889, 
98.3%;  between  1890  and  1894,  96.7%;  96.8%  in  the 
period  1895-1899;  9 6.7%  in  1900-2.  The  small  rem- 
nant did  not  necessarily  do  better;  they  may  have  left  the 
city  or  escaped  notice.59a  In  regulation,  as  in  abolition 
communities,  the  system  of  fining  and  imprisoning  offend- 
ers— -be  they  prostitutes  or  not  — is  futile,  expensive, 
and  demoralizing. 

Meanwhile,  below  the  surface,  lie  the  frightful  evils 
out  of  which  professional  prostitution  comes.  An  acrid 
controversy  in  Glasgow  between  the  Inspector  of  the 
Parish  and  the  Chief  Constable  throws  a flood  of  light 
on  a situation  which  neither  regulation  nor  abolition 
touches.  The  former  cites  the  volume  of  existing  im- 
morality, the  frequent  violation  of  children,  the  existence 
of  ice-cream  shops  which  are  merely  cloaks  for  inde- 
cency; the  latter  replies  that  prostitution  is  in  itself  no 
crime,  that  arrests  can  be  made  only  where  habitual 
prostitutes  are  guilty  of  importuning,  that  the  difficulties 
of  proof  in  case  of  immoral  establishments  are  very 
serious,  and  that  incidental  prostitution  and  immorality 
lie  outside  the  province  of  the  police.60  Thus  even 
though  regulation  is  condemned,  it  is  necessary  to  remem- 
ber that  the  serious  problem  remains.  This  must  not  be 
overlooked.  Our  immediate  concern  is  howTever,  once 

59a  Reglementeringen  i Stockholm,  pp.  91-92. 

60  The  documents  in  the  case  are:  Memorandum  on  a Social  Evil 
in  Glasgow,  published  by  authority  of  the  Parish  Council,  October, 
1911 ; Social  Evil  in  Glasgow,  Report  by  the  Chief  Constable. 

321 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

more,  simply  as  to  whether  the  provincial  and  Scottish 
towns  lose  anything  through  not  possessing  the  regulatory 
apparatus  found  in  continental  towns  of  the  same  size. 
There  can  be  but  one  opinion  on  this  point : no  single 
phenomenon  can  be  cited  tending  to  show  that  the  situa- 
tion would  be  bettered  by  regulation  or  that  it  suffers 
for  the  lack  of  it. 

The  comparison  between  regulation  and  abolition 
can,  however,  be  most  fairly  made  on  the  Continent, 
where  the  manner  of  living,  the  point  of  view,  and  the 
social  traditions  of  regulation  and  abolition  communities 
are  more  nearly  alke.  Moreover,  the  abolitionist  cities 
that  enter  into  the  comparison  have  all  had  regulatory 
systems, — some  of  them  quite  recently.  What  have 
they  lost  through  abolition?  How  do  they  bear  com- 
parison with  those  that  still  retain  regulation? 

The  subject  is  by  no  means  a simple  one,  in  part  at 
least  because  its  discussion  has  been  carried  on  in  a 
spirit  of  acrimonious  controversy.  Complete  and  dis- 
passionate accounts  of  conditions  during  and  after  regula- 
tion either  in  regulated  or  abolitionist  communities  have 
nowhere  been  prepared;  the  only  reliable  statistics  in 
existence  deal  merely  with  certain  phases  of  the  evil, 
and  leave  unsettled  the  question  as  to  whether  other 
phases  have  become  better  or  worse,  after  or  in  conse- 
quence of  abolition.  Moreover,  all  the  cities  involved 
have  grown  with  amazing  rapidity;  they  have  become 
larger,  richer,  more  luxurious,  in  some  ways  more  friv- 
olous. They  compete  with  each  other  and  even  with 
much  larger  towns  in  brilliancy  and  seductiveness.  This 
increased  playfulness  is  certainly  reflected  in  the  increase 

322 


Abolition  and  Order 


of  some  forms  of  immorality  without  involving  in  any 
degree  the  issue  between  regulation  and  abolition. 

Continental  abolition  has  usually  required  two  steps. 
In  the  first  place,  bordells  were  suppressed;  after  a brief 
interval,  registration  and  medical  inspection  have  been 
abandoned.  Whatever  has  happened  in  consequence  of 
abolition,  the  mere  suppression  of  the  bordell  can  have 
had  little  immediate  or  direct  effect.  The  bordell  was, 
as  previously  pointed  out,  moribund  anyway ; its  legal  ex- 
termination involved  hardly  a perceptible  shock.  At 
Zurich  eighteen  houses,  containing  fifty-seven  women 
were  forcibly  closed,  at  Rotterdam  four  with  twenty 
women,  at  Copenhagen  three.  On  the  face  of  the  mat- 
ter, it  may,  therefore,  be  affirmed  that  nowhere  in  Eu- 
rope has  the  closing  of  bordells  as  the  first  step  towards 
abolition  involved  unfavorable  consequences. 

This  is  not  to  say  that  the  other  forms  of  prostitu- 
tion— the  concealed  brothel,  the  counterfeit  employ- 
ment,61 the  low  drinking-shop,  the  dance  hall,  etc.,  have 
been  lessened  or  mitigated  by  the  abolition  of  the  bor- 
dell. Whether  any  particular  surreptitious  form  of  bor- 
dell exists  or  not  is  not  a question  of  abolition  or  regula- 
tion, but  of  the  law,  the  manner  of  its  enforcement,  the 
^condition  of  public  opinion,  the  attitude  of  the  courts, 
and  the  general  feasibility  of  effective  repression.  Many 
of  these  forms  were  briefly  characterized  in  the  open- 
ing chapter.  They  are  found  everywhere, — in  regulated 
cities,  such  as  Hamburg  and  Budapest,  where  the  bordell 
is  officially  favored;  in  Vienna,  where,  though  officially 

61 1 refer  by  this  description  to  spurious  cigar  shops,  manicure  es- 
tablishments, etc. 


323 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

reprobated,  it  still  continues  to  exist : in  Munich  and  Ber- 
lin, where  it  is  no  longer  tolerated;  and  just  as  well  in 
abolition  towns, — Copenhagen,  Zurich,  and  thristiania, 
for  example.  I have  no  desire  to  understate  the  facts. 
Resorts  serving  the  purpose  of  bordells  are  almost  univer- 
sally met  with  — with  or  without  regular  bordells.  I 
have  touched  on  the  English  brothels  and  the  Berlin 
bars.  In  Amsterdam,  one  finds  clubs  or  pretended 
“ pensions,”  to  which  the  visitor  is  conducted  by  a cab- 
driver  or  directed  by  an  acquaintance  or  a hotel  porter 
and  in  which  he  is  entertained  in  whatever  fashion  he 
prefers.  Along  the  Binnenrotte  in  Rotterdam  and  in  the 
narrow  out-of-the-way  streets  of  old  Zurich,  cigar 
shops,62  whose  outfit  consists  mainly  of  empty  boxes  and 
bedizened  females,  unmistakably  proclaim  their  purpose. 
The  purchaser  of  one  of  the  few  cigars  in  stock,  unless 
an  object  of  suspicion,  need  only  lay  a coin  of  moderate 
size  on  the  counter  in  payment;  he  will  soon  learn  that 
there  is  no  change  in  the  drawer,  but  that  there  are  other 
ways  of  squaring  the  account.63  If  he  prove  obdurate, 
the  drawer  is  somehow  discovered  to  contain  the  neces- 
sary change;  if  he  seems  to  be  impressionable,  his  atten- 
tion will  be  called  to  a photograph  and  the  inner  salon 
will  be  recommended.  In  many  towns,  too,  “ America^ 
bars  ” are  found,  most  of  them  liquor  establishments  be- 
hind the  counters  of  which  prostitutes  hand  out  liquor 
and  encourage  assignations.  The  proprietors  escape 

62  This  particular  form  of  humbug  is  impossible  in  Austria- 
Hungary  where  the  sale  of  tobacco  is  an  imperial  monopoly. 

63  There  are  between  fifty  and  sixty  of  these  shops  in  Zurich.  At 
times  a servant  is  saleswoman;  the  prostitute  herself  lolls  in  the 
rear  room. 


Abolition  and  Order 

punishment  because  the  assignations  are  fulfilled  else- 
where than  on  his  premises.  Filthy  establishments  more 
flagrantly  devoted  to  the  same  purposes  exist  in  abolition 
Zurich  as  in  regulation  Bremen.64 

Would  these  establishments  revert  to  bordells,  if  the 
transformation  were  allowed  or  forced?  Perhaps,  to  a 
limited  extent.  But  the  change  would  simply  convert 
a few  furtive  and  ill-patronized  resorts  into  notorious  and 
well-attended  bordells,  the  rest  remaining  by  preference 
what  they  now  are.  The  net  outcome  would  be  bad,  not 
good.  Meanwhile  Christiania  proves  that  the  forms  in 
question  do  not  result  merely  from  suppression  of  the 
bordell,  for  the  Animierkneipe  with  female  service  does 
not  exist  there  and  counterfeit  employments  are  rare. 

The  weight  of  authority  — lay  and  official  — unques- 
tionably favors  the  view  here  taken, — that  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  bordell  has  operated  in  the  public  interest. 
True  enough,  a writer  discussing  the  entire  evolution  of 
the  problem,  claims  that  the  disappearance  of  the  bor- 
dell in  Zurich  has  been  accompanied  “ by  an  increase  of 
secret  ‘ hole  and  corner  ’ prostitution,  beyond  the  scope 
of  the  law,”  65  but  no  argument  or  evidence  shows  that 
abolition  is  in  any  wise  responsible  for  the  fact,  if  fact 
it  be.  It  is  assuredly  not  without  significance  as  militat- 
ing towards  a directly  opposite  conclusion  that  prosecu- 
tions for  pandering  65a  have  in  the  long  run  decreased,  not 

64  It  is  no  uncommon  error  for  regulationists  to  suppose  that  these 
abominations  occur  only  or  mainly  in  abolition  towns.  Such  a mis- 
take appears  to  be  implied  in  the  account  of  Zurich  by  Muller  and 
Ziircher,  Zeitschrift,  XIV,  p.  205. 

65  Weiss,  loc.  cit.,  p.  125. 

65aThe  word  pandering  is  here  used  in  a very  broad  sense,  as 

325 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

increased,  although  the  suppression  of  bordells  would, 
if  general  conditions  actually  deteriorated,  necessarily 
lead  to  an  increase  in  the  activity  of  the  pander.  The 
bordells  were  closed  in  1898:  in  1895,  22;  in  1896,  19; 
in  1897,  27  persons  were  convicted  on  the  charge  of 
pandering.  During  the  next  three  years,  30,  33,  and  25  ; 
during  the  last  five  years,  13,  23,  28,  26,  and  22  respec- 
tively. The  learned  chief  of  the  Zurich  police  declared 
to  me  that  the  bordell  system  “ had  earned  practically 
universal  disapprobation.  No  one  would  now  again  urge 
the  introduction  of  tolerated  houses,  not  even  the  un- 
prejudiced and  liberally-disposed.  Houses  where  a 
madame  can  hire  out  girls  and  acquire  profits  are  not 
wanted  by  any  one.”  An  important  official  in  Chris- 
tiania urged  that  whether  regulation  is  desirable  or  not, 
the  destruction  of  the  bordell  was  an  advantage.  The 
Amsterdam  police  favored  their  extirpation  and  after  fif- 
teen years’  experience  “ are  still  opposed  to  them.”  The 
foregoing  judgments  are  based  on  police  grounds;  as- 
suredly the  case  against  the  bordell  would  be  all  the 
stronger,  were  indirect  considerations  also  allowed  to 
weigh. 

Nowhere  does  the  suppression  of  the  bordell  aggra- 
vate the  domicile  problem,  which,  as  a matter  of  fact, 
settles  itself  in  abolition  towns,  just  as  it  does  in  regula- 
tion towns.  The  English,  Swiss,  Dutch,  and  Scandi- 
navian prostitutes  seek  rooms  in  sections  occupied  by 
the  poor,  usually  paying  a considerably  higher  rental  than 
is  paid  by  decent  folk.  In  some  cases  their  character 

a translation  of  “ Kuppelei  ” which  includes  all  forms  of  promoting 
prostitution. 


Abolition  and  Order 


is  concealed  and  their  business  transacted  elsewhere;  in 
others,  when  neighbors  or  fellow-tenants  are  too  poor 
or  too  careless  to  protest,  the  women  utilize  their  own 
lodgings.  The  street-walkers  of  London  tend  to  congre- 
gate in  apartment  houses  or  “ mansions  ” from  which  re- 
spectable families  are  crowded  out;  in  the  provincial 
towns  they  occupy  small  houses.  If  renting  of  rooms 
to  prostitutes  is  in  itself  made  a crime,  the  law  is  broken, 
as  at  Berlin,  and  of  course  most  regularly  in  case  of  the 
more  clever  and  well-to-do;  or  the  stupid  and  wretched 
are  pushed  into  vagabondage  rather  than  out  of  prostitu- 
tion. Some  interesting  statistics  on  this  point  come  from 
Zurich  where,  since  1897,  the  renting  of  a domicile  to  a 
prostitute  constitutes  a punishable  offence.  As  the  exe- 
cution of  the  law  has  been  more  efficient,  the  percentage 
of  homeless  prostitutes,  who  sleep  in  public  lodging- 
houses  or  elsewhere,  now  here,  now  there,  betrays  a 
tendency  to  increase.  Police  statistics,  dealing  with  361 
prostitutes,  in  1904,  show  69.8%  having  a regular  domi- 
cile, 30.2%  without  domicile;  in  1908,  of  399  women,  the 
proportions  were  52.6%,  47.4%  respectively;  in  1910,  of 
601  women,  62.2%  and  37. 8%  respectively.66  The  dom- 
icile problem  is  indeed  soluble  only  as  the  general  problem 
of  prostitution  itself  is  solved;  it  is  made  neither  better 
nor  worse  by  abolition. 

The  preceding  discussion  makes  clear  that  the  bordell 
played  but  a slight  part  in  the  prostitution-economy  of 
Norway,  Denmark,  Holland,  and  Switzerland  at  the  time 
of  its  abolition.  The  step  was  of  moral  rather  than  of 
immediate  practical  importance.  It  indicated  a change 

66  Muller  and  Zurcher,  in  Zeitschrift,  XIV,  p.  198. 

327 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

in  the  attitude  of  society,  that  might  in  time  produce  re- 
sults; but  there  was  no  perceptible  result  at  the  moment. 
How  stands  the  situation  in  respect  to  order  in  the 
streets?  Was  the  abolition  of  control  attended  by  in- 
creased prominence  of  prostitutes  in  the  public  highways 
of  continental  towns  or  greater  difficulty  in  keeping 
track  of  them,  where  advisable  to  do  so? 

Of  the  abolition  cities  that  I visited,  prostitutes  are 
most  prominent  in  the  chief  thoroughfares  of  Copen- 
hagen, particularly  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Tivoli,  a popular 
amusement  resort  in  the  heart  of  the  town,  and  on  the 
street  corners  and  open  squares  near-by ; they  loiter  alone 
or  in  small  groups,  making  no  aggressive  effort  to  at- 
tract attention;  from  time  to  time  they  retreat  into  the 
cafes  or  variety  shows  abounding  in  the  vicinity.  The 
main  shopping  street  of  Christiania  — Karl  Johans 
Gade  — appears  to  be  free  of  promenading  prostitutes 
by  day;  at  night,  they  are  in  distinct  evidence  there  and 
in  amusement  gardens  close  by ; once  more  their  demeanor 
is  quiet  and  unobtrusive.  In  the  Hague  the  street  pros- 
titute is  barely  noticeable;  an  occasional  woman  is  ob- 
servable in  the  crowds  that  night  and  day  push  through 
the  busy  little  street  on  which  most  of  the  retail  shops 
are  found;  others  can  be  hunted  down  in  low  cafes. 
Rotterdam  — a city  of  different  type  — presents  a 
slightly  different  aspect.  In  the  earlier  hours  of  the  even- 
ing, women  hasten  to  the  skating-rink,  dance  halls  and 
cafes.  When,  at  midnight,  these  resorts  close,  prosti- 
tutes appear  for  a while  on  the  streets.  The  streets  of 
Amsterdam  were,  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  the  cleanest  I 
had  anywhere  observed ; the  ordinance  authorizing  arrest 

328 


Abolition  and  Order 


of  the  prostitute  for  promenading  has  been  enforced  with 
sufficient  vigor  and  discretion  to  attain  its  object.  Zu- 
rich is  not  substantially  different  from  other  abolition 
towns.  As  late  as  midnight  only  occasional  and  cautious 
street- walkers  were  to  be  observed ; in  reply  to  a question, 
an  inquirer  was  informed  by  one  of  these  that  she  would 
shortly  leave  for  Geneva, — a regulation  town, — “ there 
is  too  little  doing  here.”  Women,  of  whose  character 
their  appearance  leaves  no  doubt,  survey  the  male  passer- 
by and  retreat  into  a side  street  to  give  him  an  oppor- 
tunity to  seek  an  interview;  but  unless  intoxicated,  they 
quietly  await  his  approach. 

The  number  of  police  arrests  required  in  order  to 
bring  about  the  conditions  above  described  does  not  seem 
excessively  large.  In  Christiania,  I was  officially  in- 
formed that  “ arrests  for  solicitation  were  few  ” ; in 
Amsterdam  (population  580,960)  370  arrests  were 
made  in  1910,  382,  in  1911.67  The  situation  in  Copen- 
hagen (population  462,161)  is  portrayed  by  the  fol- 
lowing statistics : for  soliciting,  offending  against  “ the 
sense  of  shame,”  68  and  “ vagabondage,”  288  arrests  were 
made  in  1907,  the  year  succeeding  the  repeal  of  regula- 
tion; in  1908,  344;  in  1909,  432;  in  1910,  414;  in  1911, 
353.  The  total,  not  large  in  any  case,  is  due  to  the  in- 
clusion of  vagabondage,  to  the  growth  of  the  city,  and 
to  a judicial  decision  to  the  effect  that  prostitutes  con- 
gregating in  the  streets  cannot  be  arrested  or  dispersed; 
for  out  of  these  casual  gatherings  occasional  disturbances 
leading  to  subsequent  arrests  sometimes  arise. 

67  Personally  communicated  by  police  head. 

68 1.  e.,  Violation  of  Section  2 of  the  laws  of  1906. 

329 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

Have  conditions  in  the  towns  above  named  been  af- 
fected for  the  worse  by  the  sudden  and  recent  change 
from  regulation  to  abolition?  I did  not  find  a single 
police  officer  who  answered  that  question  in  the  affirma- 
tive. The  division  chief  at  Copenhagen  stated  to  me: 
“ Regulation  was  entirely  dispensed  with  in  1906;  in  the 
interval  the  police  have  learned  how  to  procure  all  the 
information  and  to  take  all  the  steps  for  which  at  one 
time  a morals  police  and  regulation  were  supposed  to  be 
necessary.”  69  When  the  new  law  abrogating  police  con- 
trol was  proposed,  objection  was  made  on  the  ground 
that,  in  the  absence  of  police  power  to  confine  prostitutes 
to  specific  localities,  they  would  infest  the  whole  city: 
“ It  has  not  happened ; prostitution  is  more  scattered  and 
thus  more  readily  handled,  but  it  does  not  invade  all  sec- 
tions. The  suppression  of  summary  police  punishments 
has  done  no  harm;  the  ordinary  courts  with  their  usual 
processes  have  proved  adequate  to  maintain  order  and 
decency.  Conditions  are  at  least  as  good  as  under  the 
old  system;  some  streets  have  been  entirely  freed;  the 
main  streets  are  no  worse ; clandestine  prostitution  has  not 
been  aggravated;  indeed  up  to  now  nothing  has  hap- 
pened to  cause  us  to  regret,” — with  which  the  grateful 
official  “ touched  wood ! ” 70  Elsewhere,  I was  informed 

69  The  number  of  women  enrolled  had  been  as  high  as  700. 

70  For  a detailed  discussion  of  this  point  see  a paper  by  E.  M. 

Hoff,  “ On  the  Effects  of  the  Law  of  March  30,  1906”  (Copenhagen, 
1909).  Dr.  Hoff,  quoting  an  unfavorable  utterance  by  Judge  Cold 
respecting  “the  armies  of  loose  women  in  the  Vesterbro  quarter,” 
remarks:  “If  we  should  go  out  to  the  Vesterbro  in  the  expecta- 

tion of  unpleasant  experience  in  the  way  of  public  morals,  we 
should  be  disappointed.  Vesterbro  makes  the  impression  of  not  hav- 
ing changed  essentially  since  the  passage  of  the  law.  There  is  cer- 
tainly no  offence  to  be  feared  by  anyone  walking  through  the  streets; 
of  course  loose  women  whose  manner  is  not  characterized  by  great 

330 


Abolition  and  Order 


that  the  former  partisans  of  regulation  were  “ struck 
dumb.”  71  If  abolition  were  working  badly,  one  would 
hear  “ I told  you  so  ” from  its  original  opponents;  there 
are,  as  a matter  of  fact,  very  few  regulationists  any 
longer  in  Copenhagen,  though  certain  points  to  be 
shortly  discussed  are  not  yet  clear.  Officials  of  the  same 
rank  in  Christiania  stated : “ Regulation  will  never  be 

restored.”  The  partisans  of  regulation  have  steadily 
diminished  in  number  and  volubility.  An  incident  re- 
ported from  Christiania,  however,  is  interesting  as  show- 
ing that  everything  that  has  happened  since  abolition  has 
not  necessarily  happened  on  account  of  abolition.  In 
1899  it  was,  for  example,  pointed  out  at  a medical  con- 
ference in  Christiania  that  street  conditions  had  be- 
come temporarily  worse.  The  speaker  attributed  the 
fact  to  abolition;  but  the  argument  was  presently  refuted 
by  the  statement  that  the  real  reason  for  deterioration 
was  the  instruction  to  the  police  that  “ they  had  no  right 
to  interfere  with  soliciting  unless  it  was  done  in  a dis- 
tinctly indecent  manner.”  Stockholm  has  not  yet 
abolished  regulation,  but  the  system  has  decayed  so 
rapidly  that  bad  results  ought  to  be  perceptible,  if  regula- 
tion was  really  of  any  consequence  whatsoever.  I have 
already  called  attention  to  the  sudden  drop  in  the  new 
enrolments,  from  119  in  1903  to  67  in  1904;  the  number 
of  annual  inspections  fell  from  20,849 'm  x903  to  6,652  in 

reserve  may  be  noted,  but  the  same  was  true  formerly  and  had 
been  true  for  years.  In  general,  conditions  can  fairly  be  described 
as  quiet.”  (p.  2,  somewhat  condensed.)  I visited  the  quarter  at  dif- 
ferent hours,  day  and  night,  and  fully  concur  in  Dr.  Hoff’s  contention 
that  prostitution  is  not  more  conspicuous  than  in  similar  neighbor- 
hoods elsewhere  in  Europe. 

71  Vollig  stumm. 


331 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

1911.  The  institution  thus  shrank  two-thirds  within  a 
few  years,  “ without  any  resultant  disadvantages  from  the 
standpoint  of  public  order;  an  activity  that  can  be  reduced 
66  2-3%  without  a trace  of  inconvenience  can  hardly  be 
regarded  as  necessary  for  the  public  welfare.’’ 71a  In 
Holland  the  abolition  movement  spread  from  town  to 
town, — an  improbable  course,  had  the  absence  of  regula- 
tion done  harm.  The  Chief  of  the  Hague  police  assured 
me  that  he  “ cherished  no  regret  on  the  score  of  abolishing 
regulation  or  bordells  ” ; the  division  chief  admitted  that, 
although  having  been  a regulationist  during  the  regulation 
period,  experience  with  the  alternative  system  had  made 
him  a strong  abolitionist ; he  would  “ advise  all  cities  to 
abolish  regulation  and  none  to  introduce  it.”  No 
stronger  expressions  were  anywhere  used  than  by  the 
Amsterdam  Chief  and  his  staff ; they  were  outright  abo- 
litionists ; they  believed  regulation  inseparable  from  police 
corruption — an  opinion  echoed  elsewhere  as  well;  they 
found  no  greater  difficulty  in  handling  the  problems  — 
criminal  or  other  — in  consequence  of  abolition.  In 
either  case  “ incessant  vigilance  and  effort  ” were  required. 
It  is  true  that  the  police  officials  of  France  and  Germany 
give  quite  different  accounts  of  what  is  to  be  observed  in 
abolitionist  communities ; but  these  statements  are  usually 
based  on  prophecies  made  during  the  controversial 
period.  The  Swedish  commission  reports  on  hearsay 
that  “ the  experience  of  countries  which  do  not  have 
special  suppression  of  whole-time  prostitution  as  such  ” 
is  deplorable;  but  Professor  Johansson  notes  in  reply 
that  “ it  would  have  been  well  to  indicate  the  countries 

71a  Reglementeringen  i Stockholm,  pp.  132-3. 

332 


Abolition  and  Order 


in  question.”  72  Christiania  alone  is  mentioned  by  name, 
and  as  to  that,  candor  requires  them  to  add  that  “ nothing 
really  importunate  or  offensive  was  observed  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  women.”  73 

I have  given  above  the  verdicts  of  the  police  who 
have  lived  under  both  systems,  an  experience  entitled  to 
great  weight.  There  is  every  indication  that  the  pop- 
ular verdict  coincides.  In  the  Canton  of  Zurich,  a refer- 
endum, proposed  in  favor  of  returning  to  the  abandoned 
system,  was  defeated  by  a vote  of  49,806  to  i8,oi6.74 
A newspaper  comment  on  the  result  warns  the  “ in- 
terests” in  favor  of  regulation  that  “ every  proposition 
emanating  from  them  is  hopeless.  If  ever  a revision  of 
the  present  statute  is  undertaken,  the  initiative  will  have 
to  come  from  disinterested  jurists,  physicians,  and  judges. 
We  hope  there  will  be  no  such  occasion.”  75 

A comparison  of  the  streets  of  abolition  cities  with 
those  of  regulation  cities  sustains  the  conclusion  to  which 
the  preceding  statements  point.  Christiania  is  as  de- 
cent as  Stuttgart.  As  between  Zurich  and  Geneva,  the 
contrast  is  all  in  favor  of  Zurich,  though  it  is  twice  as 
large.  Even  the  sea-port  towns  constitute  no  exception. 
Copenhagen  and  Rotterdam  are  at  least  as  quiet  as 
Bremen  and  Hamburg;  indeed  it  would  be  impossible  to 
find  in  the  abolition  sea-ports  anything  resembling  the 
street  scenes  enacted  in  the  bordell  quarters  of  regulated 
ports.  The  sailors’  quarter  of  Rotterdam  — the  Schie- 
damschedyk  — is  a cosmopolitan  affair,  with  drink- 
ing and  dance  halls  of  variegated  character.  Prosti- 

74  Weiss,  loc.  cit.,  p.  121. 

75  Weiss,  loc.  cit.,  p.  123. 


72  Loc.  cit.,  p.  46. 

73  Ibid,  p.  47. 


333 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

tutes  and  their  customers  come  together  in  them;  at 
times  a woman  standing  in  a door-way  salutes  a passer- 
by. But  up  to  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  the  streets 
were  free  of  scandal. 

Reference  to  the  statutes  previously  described  will 
show  the  reader  that  the  police  generally  enjoy  the  right 
to  proceed  against  the  prostitute  as  a vagabond.  This 
is  the  abolitionist  counterpart  of  the  regulationist  pro- 
visions directed  against  women  “ without  a definite  dom- 
icile.” The  vagabondage  proviso  is  largely  used  only 
in  Copenhagen,  where  there  exists  great  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  its  value.  Its  prominence  in  the  Danish 
law  betrays  the  dread  under  which  the  lawmakers  worked. 
It  was  feared  that  simple  repeal  of  regulation  might  be 
interpreted  to  mean  that  the  law  had  no  objection  to  a 
woman’s  earning  her  living  by  prostitution ; 76  the  pros- 
titute was  therefore  made  expressly  amenable  to  punish- 
ment as  a vagabond,  if  proved  to  be  without  proper 
means  of  support.  Most  of  the  arrests  in  the  statistics 
before  given 77  are  due  rather  to  vagabondage  than  to 
solicitation  — 217  out  of  288,  241  out  of  344,  251  out 
of  432,  243  out  of  414,  200  out  of  353.  The  provision 
operates  in  this  way.  The  police  having  noticed  a woman 
walking  the  streets  (not  soliciting)  at  all  hours,  pre- 
sume her  to  be  without  legitimate  occupation;  she  is 
warned ; on  a second  warning  her  name  and  address  are 
taken  and  a printed  notice  is  sent,  requiring  her  to  ob- 
tain employment  and  to  report  the  fact.  Between  200 
and  300  notices  of  this  kind  are  annually  sent;  in  1909, 

76  Regulation,  of  course,  expressly  recognized  her  right  to  do  this, 
if  she  were  registered. 

77  Page  329. 


334 


Abolition  and  Order 

216  women  were  once  punished,  45  twice,  11  thrice  on 
this  charge.78 

Serious  objections  are  raised  to  this  method  of  deal- 
ing with  prostitution.  It  is  criticized  as  an  indirect 
method  of  making  prostitution  in  itself  a crime,  and 
open  as  such  to  the  objection  that  it  bears  on  the  woman 
alone,  and  on  only  the  stupid  woman  at  that.  Justice 
would  require  that  vagabondage  be  similarly  treated,  be 
the  vagabond  a man  or  a woman;  but  this  statute  un- 
doubtedly involves  discrimination  in  favor  of  the  male 
vagabond.  A quasi-regulatory  system  might  undoubt- 
edly be  introduced  beneath  its  cover  by  a reactionary 
official.  The  provision  is  at  any  rate  a somewhat  dis- 
ingenuous subterfuge,  for,  strictly  speaking,  the  vagrant 
is  homeless ; but  the  prostitute  may  be  treated  as  a vaga- 
bond, despite  the  fact  that  she  possesses  a home. 

From  a practical  point  of  view,  there  is  the  further  ob- 
jection that  the  statute  is  so  easily  evaded  as  to  make  its 
application  uncertain  and  inequitable.  The  street-walker, 
attacked  as  a vagrant  without  means  of  support,  claims 
to  be  a servant,  earning  a minimum  sum, — 'say  twelve 
crowns  monthly;  she  escapes  punishment  by  pointing  to 
the  old  woman  for  whom  she  works,  though  the  correct 
relationship  is  just  the  reverse,  for  the  older  woman 
is  the  servant  of  the  prostitute;  or  the  accused  va- 
grant becomes  a cigar-vender,  a “ laundress,”  a 
“ friseuse,”  thus  increasing  the  number  of  counterfeit  em- 
ployments. Like  regulation,  the  vagrancy  provision  re- 
sults in  harrying  the  dull  unfortunates,  while  leaving  the 

78  The  penalty  is  the  workhouse  for  12  days,  18  days,  etc.,  up  to  90 
days. 


335 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

more  pretentious  and  the  more  clever  quite  unscathed. 

Of  the  other  results  feared  in  connection  with  aboli- 
tion, none  have  materialized  to  a perceptible  extent.  It 
was  urged,  for  example,  that  when  bordells  were  dis- 
mantled, men  would  annoy  respectable  women  on  the 
streets.  It  is  indeed  one  of  the  queer  features  of  all 
police  dealings  with  prostitution,  that,  whereas  solicita- 
tion by  a prostitute  is  an  offence,  accosting  by  men  is, 
unless  outrageously  flagrant,  quite  overlooked.  This  is 
generally  true  in  both  abolition  and  in  regulation  coun- 
tries ; but  curiously  enough,  the  evil  is  worse  in  regulated 
Germany  than  anywhere  else.  In  Swiss,  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish towns  — all  abolition  — the  offence  is  exceptional ; in 
Berlin,  many  men  habitually  turn  in  order  to  observe 
women,  and  at  night  do  not  hesitate  to  venture  a word  by 
way  of  experiment.  The  annoyance  of  decent  women 
has,  therefore,  not  followed  as  a result  of  abolition 
and  is  commonest  in  certain  regulation  countries, — not, 
however,  in  my  opinion,  as  a consequence  of  regula- 
tion. 

It  was  feared  that  under  abolition  the  percentage  of 
pimps  or  souteneurs  would  rise;  there  is,  however,  no 
confirmatory  evidence.  Even  bordell  women  frequently 
support  pimps;  the  low  grade  prostitute  everywhere  has 
her  pimp,  regardless  of  regulation  or  abolition,  and 
everywhere  protects  him  loyally,  as  the  few  successful 
prosecutions  show.  In  something  over  a year,  only  39 
men  were  arrested  as  pimps  in  Rotterdam,  30  of  whom 
were  sentenced  to  hard  labor  in  a tramp-colony  for 
terms  running  from  three  months  to  three  years.79  The 

79  Communicated  by  police  authorities. 

336 


Abolition  and  Order 


bully  is  indeed  a parasite  unaffected  by  the  existence  of 
either  regulation  or  abolition  as  such. 

The  situation  as  regards  houses  of  assignation  is  every- 
where on  the  Continent  in  such  confusion  that  no  definite 
statement  is  possible.  I have  pointed  out  the  fact  that 
these  resorts  are  unopposed  in  Paris;  are  harried  from 
time  to  time  in  Germany,  chiefly  on  the  score  of  furnish- 
ing facilities  to  clandestine  prostitutes;  are  tolerated  in 
Budapest,  on  condition  of  submitting  to  certain  rules,— 
with  the  result  that  both  regular  and  irregular  resorts 
exist  there.  Abolition  towns  are  in  theory  hostile  to  ren- 
dezvous houses;  but  it  can  not  be  said  that  their  prose- 
cution has  yet  accomplished  much  more  than  the  en- 
forcement of  greater  caution  and  quiet  — no  slight  gain, 
to  be  sure, — in  the  conduct  of  the  business.  The  actual 
reduction  in  their  number  is,  as  far  as  one  can  judge, 
nominal. 

Regulationist  police  are  honestly  afraid  that  abolition 
renders  it  difficult  or  impossible  to  keep  track  of  pros- 
titution. I have  pointed  out  what  seems  to  me  the  real 
inwardness  of  regulation,— that  it  furnishes  the  police 
with  a method  of  keeping  in  touch  with  criminal  and  crim- 
inally-inclined prostitutes  and  their  associates.  The  reg- 
istered prostitute  is  tethered  to  the  police ; once  or 
twice  a week  she  is  pulled  back;  she  can  not  get  far 
away  without  being  noticed;  if  she  does,  her  disappear- 
ance is  soon  known  and  efforts  at  least  are  made  to 
trace  her.  Abolition  is  said  to  do  away  with  all  this 
and  to  leave  the  police  helpless. 

But  the  case  is  not  so  desperate  after  all.  The  con- 
tinental police  have  methods  of  keeping  up  with  other 

337 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

people, — reputable  and  criminal  alike ; and  if  the  ma- 
chinery which  keeps  up  with  the  reputable  will  not  answer 
for  the  prostitute,  assuredly  the  machinery  which  is  with 
such  difficulty  eluded  by  law-breakers  will.  For  ex- 
ample, life  and  property  are  probably  equally  secure  in 
Hamburg,  Rotterdam,  and  Birmingham.  Hamburg  has 
a well  organized  regulatory  system;  Rotterdam  is  aboli- 
tionist, but  catalogues  prostitutes;  Birmingham  is  abo- 
litionist and  ignores  the  prostitute  until  she  becomes  dis- 
orderly or  criminal,  whereupon,  like  other  disorderly  or 
criminal  people,  she  suffers  as  such.  “ As  far  as  crime 
is  concerned,”  a prominent  London  police  official  re- 
marked to  me,  “ crime  committed  by  a prostitute  is  not 
different  from  other  crime;  it  is  handled  just  as  other 
crime  is  handled  and  no  weakness  has  been  felt  in  con- 
sequence of  this  procedure.”  In  this,  as  in  all  the  other 
points  considered,  if  abolition  has  done  no  harm,  regu- 
lation could  at  best  have  done  little  or  no  good.  Nor 
does  it  follow  that  thoroughgoing  abolition  is  at  all  in- 
consistent with  just  as  complete  knowledge  of  local  pros- 
titution as  is  possessed  by  regulationist  police,  should 
such  information  be  desired.  The  English  police,  as  I 
have  said,  take  no  interest  in  the  matter  until  the  law  is 
violated, — of  course,  knowing  and  observing  women 
given  to  transgression,  precisely  as  they  know  and  ob- 
serve other  suspects.  Influenced  doubtless  by  continen- 
tal tradition,  the  police  of  abolition  Rotterdam  catalogue 
women  of  suspected  virtue;  they  possess  a list  of  1,465, 
eight  hundred  of  whom  are  professional  and  avowed 
prostitutes.  The  police  of  abolition  Zurich  know  400 
persons  who  rent  rooms  for  prostitution  though  the  evi- 

338 


Abolition  and  Order 


dence  falls  short  of  technical  completeness;  in  Chris- 
tiania some  500  prostitutes  are  known  to  the  authorities ; 
the  Amsterdam  Bureau  is  preparing  a list  for  all  Hol- 
land; after  four  years  of  work  it  contains  some  7,000 
names;  similar  lists  of  pimps,  traffickers,  etc.,  with  photo- 
graphs where  possible,  are  found  there  just  as  in  regu- 
lationist  Dresden  or  Vienna.  The  houses  in  which  the 
prostitutes  of  Amsterdam  live  have  also  been  studied. 
At  first  two,  afterwards  four,  men  were  assigned  to  the 
task  with  the  result  that  increasingly  complete  informa- 
tion has  been  procured.  In  1908,  292  houses  with  548 
girls  were  located;  in  1909,  366  houses  with  656  girls; 
in  1910,  510  houses  with  854  girls;  in  1911,  597  houses 
with  968  girls.80  Copenhagen,  fearful  of  a too  sudden 
plunge  into  abolition  manages  through  its  “ warnings  ” 
to  reach  a similar  result ; some  300  to  400  women  are  thus 
kept  under  observation, — 'though,  as  happens  under  reg- 
ulation, the  women  do  not  report  as  systematically  as 
the  law  contemplates,  some  evading,  some  leaving,  some 
being  in  prison.81  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  abolition  is 
consistent  with  as  complete  knowledge  of  the  local  sit- 
uation as  the  authorities  think  it  worth  while  to  procure; 
in  Holland,  indeed,  there  has  been  more  activity  along 
this  line  since  abolition  than  previously. 

For  the  sake  of  completeness,  it  is  perhaps  worth  while 
to  insert  another  word  before  closing,  as  to  the  bearing 
of  abolition  on  other  forms  of  prostitution  than  those  I 

80  The  police  heads  are  careful  to  affirm  that  these  figures  indi- 
cate not  an  increase  of  prostitution,  but  increased  knowledge  of  its 
whereabouts. 

81  For  the  facts  comprised  in  the  foregoing  account,  I am  indebted 
to  the  courtesy  of  many  officials  in  Holland,  Denmark,  and  Nor- 
way. 


339 


) 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

have  considered  at  some  length, — the  dance  hall,  the 
cafe,  and  similar  establishments  that  furnish  the  prosti- 
tute an  advantageous  opening.  Neither  regulation  nor 
abolition  as  such  involves  any  particular  policy  in  ref- 
erence to  these  resorts.  On  the  Continent  little  has  been 
done  to  insure  their  decent  conduct  or  to  interrupt  their 
connection  with  the  exploitation  of  vice.  In  Great  Brit- 
ain, the  liquor  and  amusement  traffic  have  been  more 
effectually  supervised  and  beyond  question  with  good  re- 
sults, as  far  as  the  matter  has  yet  gone.  But  effective 
management  of  the  difficulties  here  touched  on  takes  us 
far  beyond  the  immediate  subject  of  our  present  inquiry. 
For  vicious  liquor  and  amusement  resorts  are  not  bad 
because  prostitutes  fasten  upon  them;  prostitutes  fasten 
upon  them  because  they  are  bad.  They  are  problems, 
therefore,  to  be  dealt  with  quite  irrespective  of  prosti- 
tution, though  prostitution  is  indeed  deprived  of  a foot- 
hold and  an  incentive  when  they  are  thus  dealt  with. 

That  abolition  favors  police  honesty  is  the  unanimous 
testimony  of  officials  who  have  experimented  with  both 
systems.  I was  informed  at  Zurich  that  the  bordell  sys- 
tem associated  with  regulation  had  resulted  in  corrup- 
tion that  “ for  so  small  a town  had  reached  enormous 
proportions.”  An  official  report  of  the  year  1892  de- 
clared that  proof  of  punishable  pandering  was  rarely 
possible  because  “ before  the  investigation  ordered  could 
be  accomplished,  the  accused  had  received  notice  of  their 
peril  through  some  secret  channel  or  other.”  82  Again, 
in  Copenhagen,  I learned  that,  as  elsewhere,  at  the  time 

82  Quoted  in  Die  Prostituiionsfrage  in  der  Schweiz , loc.  cit.,  p. 
37- 


34O 


Abolition  and  Order 

when  police  and  prostitute  were  closely  related,  corrup- 
tion prevailed ; a certain  inspector  even  owned  an  interest 
in  a house  of  prostitution  and  committed  suicide  on  ex- 
posure. The  Dutch  police  are  outspoken  to  similar  pur- 
pose. As  I pointed  out  in  dealing  with  Germany,  gen- 
eral corruption  is  nowhere  alleged  and  the  integrity  of 
the  head  officials  is  never  impugned;  but  it  is  believed 
that,  wherever  the  partial  regulatory  policy  is  in  opera- 
tion, that  is,  wherever  one  rule  is  applied  to  some  women, 
another  to  others,  a condition  is  created  favorable  to 
more  or  less  demoralization. 

It  is,  however,  obvious  that,  while  abolition  at  once 
places  all  prostitutes  on  the  same  footing  before  the  law, 
it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  a morals  police  is 
superfluous.  The  morals  police  is  imperilled  if  it  is  in 
a position  to  award  favors;  under  abolition,  this  peril 
disappears.  Now  that  this  particular  force  is  no  longer 
exposed  to  any  peculiar  danger,  is  it  not  worth  retain- 
ing in  the  interest  of  specialization?  European  expe- 
rience does  not  warrant  an  affirmative  answer.  Regula- 
tion Rome  deals  with  its  problems  without  morals  police. 
Certain  towns  of  abolition  Holland  tend  to  create  a 
morals  division  to  observe  prostitution;  a few  men  are 
detailed  for  the  purpose  at  the  Hague;  two  inspectors, 
one  social  worker  and  twelve  patrolmen  at  Rotterdam.83 
Copenhagen  retains  a morals  police.  The  English  cities 
are,  of  course,  without  any  such  division.  It  would  ap- 
pear that  the  scope  of  a morals  police  in  abolition  cities 
is  at  best  narrow.  Certain  it  is  that  no  European  city 
relies  on  the  existence  of  the  morals  police  to  maintain 

83  This  force  also  has  certain  other  dutites. 

34 1 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  integrity  of  the  main  body  of  the  force.  That  in- 
tegrity is  undoubted,  but  it  is  due,  as  I have  already 
pointed  out,  first  and  foremost  to  the  character  and 
tenure  of  the  upper  officials,  to  the  way  in  which  patrol- 
men are  chosen  and  trained,  and  to  the  sort  of  relation 
that  exists  between  the  police  department  and  the  other 
government  departments. 


342 


CHAPTER  X 


ABOLITION  AND  DISEASE 

Abolition  not  necessarily  laissez-faire. — Norwegian  handling  of 
disease  problem. — Danish  plan. — -Italian  plan. — Voluntary  and  com- 
pulsory provisions  compared.  — Denunciation  of  alleged  sources  of 
infection. — Attendance  at  free  dispensaries. — Attitude  of  prosti- 
tutes,— of  medical  practitioners. — Notification  of  venereal  disease. — 
Hospital  provisions  for  treatment  in  Great  Britain, — on  the  Conti- 
nent.— Statistics  unreliable  and  imperfect. — Census  of  venereal  dis- 
ease in  Prussia, — in  Sweden, — Venereal  disease  in  European  armies. 

— Regulation  without  effect  in  England. — Decline  in  amount  of 
disease  after  its  abolition. — Prussian  army  statistics. — Statistics  from 
Christiania, — from  Copenhagen, — from  Zurich. — Fluctuations  in 
venereal  infection. — Reduction  in  amount  of  disease. — Abolition 
more  favorable  to  such  effort  than  regulation. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  I remarked  that  though  abo- 
lition may  be  accompanied  by  a laissez-faire  policy,  this 
is  not  necessarily  the  case.  The  situation  in  respect  to 
venereal  disease  best  illustrates  this  statement.  We  shall 
see  that  the  public  in  England  is  well-nigh  entirely  indif- 
ferent on  the  subject;  almost  total  laissez-faire  prevails 
there.  Abolition  Scandinavia  has,  on  the  other  hand, 
displayed  great  vigor  and  originality  in  grappling  with 
the  problem  of  disease.  Abolition  includes,  therefore, 
the  countries  least  active  and  most  active  in  this  respect, 

— both  extremes. 

The  Norwegians  were  in  this  matter  first  in  the  field 
with  a scheme,  the  essential  points  of  which  can  be  most 
clearly  stated  by  means  of  a contrast  with  regulation. 

343 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

Regulation  endeavors  to  protect  the  public  health  by  safe- 
guarding through  police  agencies  the  health  of  registered 
prostitutes, — these  prostitutes  being  periodically  ex- 
amined by  police  surgeons  and  forcibly  treated  when 
found  diseased;  the  distinctive  features  of  sanitary  reg- 
ulation are,  therefore,  its  limitation  to  professional  in- 
scribed prostitutes,  its  management  by  the  police,  and  the 
prison-like  nature  of  the  cure.  In  contradistinction  to 
this  procedure,  the  unsatisfactory  nature  and  outcome 
of  which  we  have  discussed,  the  Scandinavian  exper- 
iment, generally  speaking,  aims  to  reach  all  those  suffer- 
ing with  venereal  disease,  men  and  women  alike;  and  it 
seeks  to  accomplish  this  end  by  transferring  the  func- 
tion from  the  police  to  the  health  department,  by  the 
provision  of  free  treatment,  and  by  endeavoring  to  en- 
list the  patient’s  aid  in  ascertaining  the  source  of  infec- 
tion, and  in  the  isolation  and  cure  of  disease.  Separation 
from  the  police  is  intended  to  allay  the  patient’s  dread 
of  becoming  involved  with  the  criminal  authority,  and,  as 
nearly  as  may  be,  to  establish  the  feeling  that  venereal 
disease  is  after  all  a disease  and  not  a crime, — an  evil 
that,  aside  from  all  else,  requires  consideration  on  its  own 
account.  The  voluntary  nature  of  submission  to  treat- 
ment is  intended  still  further  to  deepen  the  impression 
that  the  entire  matter  is  left  to  the  patient’s  intelligence 
and  self-interest  — precisely  as  though  he  were  other- 
wise afflicted;  free  treatment  is  designed  to  strengthen 
the  inducement  and  to  dispose  of  the  competition  of 
quacks. 

The  Norwegian  law  under  which  this  system  has  been 
organized  dates  from  i860;  by  its  terms  local  health 

344 


Abolition  and  Disease 


boards  with  very  extensive  powers  in  reference  to  epi- 
demic and  contagious  diseases  were  organized ; and  these 
boards  were  left  free  to  determine  what  precautions 
should  be  taken  and  to  require  reports. 

In  order  to  assist  the  health  — not  the  police  — au- 
thorities in  controlling  the  diseases  in  question,  all  phy- 
sicians are  required  to  report  daily  — usually  without 
names  1 — their  venereal  patients,  to  furnish  the  patient 
with  a copy  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  communication 
of  venereal  disease  2 and  to  require  the  patient  to  sign 
a statement  acknowledging  the  fact  that  he  (or  she) 
has  been  thus  explicitly  warned.3  The  physician  also 

1 Names  are  given  when  the  physician  feels  that  the  patient  is 
likely  to  spread  infection,  or  when  the  patient  is  sent  into  a hospital. 

2 A copy  of  the  following  slip  is  given  to  the  patient : 

Attention  is  called  to  the  following  sections  of  the  Penal  Code : 

Sec.  155.  Whoever,  with  knowledge  or  conjecture  that  he  is  suffer- 
ing from  a contagious  sex  disease,  infects  or  exposes  to  infection 
another  person,  by  means  of  sexual  intercourse  or  immoral  contact, 
shall  be  punished  with  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  three  years. 

The  same  punishment  is  provided  for  those  who  connive  at 
enabling  any  person  who  is  known  or  suspected  to  be  afflicted  with 
a contagious  sex  disease,  to  infect  in  the  above  manner  or  expose 
to  infection,  another  person. 

If  the  person  infected,  or  exposed  to  infection,  be  married  to  the 
guilty  person,  public  prosecution  shall  take  place  only  on  applica- 
tion by  the  injured  party. 

Sec.  358.  Imprisonment  for  six  months  or  less  is  the  punishment 
for  anyone  who,  without  calling  attention  to  the  danger  of  infection, 

1.  Causes  a child  to  be  nursed,  knowing  or  suspecting  the  child  to 
be  afflicted  with  contagious  syphilitic  disease,  or  engages  anyone  to 
nurse  such  child,  or 

2.  Knowing  or  suspecting  that  he  (or  she)  is  suffering  from  con- 
tagious syphilitic  disease,  enters  the  household  of  another  as  servant, 
or  remains  in  such  service,  or  receives  a strange  child  to  nurse  it, 
or  aids  in  bringing  about  such  conditions. 

The  same  punishment  is  provided  for  those  who  engage  or,  hav- 
ing engaged,  retain,  any  person  known  or  suspected  to  suffer  from 
contagious  syphilitic  disease,  as  nurse  for  a child,  or  who  aids  in 
bringing  about  such  engagement  or  retention  in  service. 

3  I herewith  acknowledge,  that  Dr. has  called  my  attention  to 


345 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

endeavors  to  ascertain  the  source  of  the  infection  and 
the  person  inculpated  is  reported  to  the  Health  Office. 
This  latter  individual  on  calling  by  invitation  4 is  informed 
of  the  nature  of  the  charge  — the  name  of  the  accuser 
being  withheld  — and  is  invited  to  submit  to  examina- 
tion at  a hospital  or  by  a municipal  physician.  No  com- 
pulsion is  applied;  the  advantages  of  knowing  the  truth 
and  the  offer  of  free  and  skilful  treatment  in  complete 
privacy  form  the  entire  inducement.  If  disease  is  thus 
proved  to  exist,  treatment  can  be  compelled,  to  the  ex- 
tent of  forcibly  confining  the  infected  person  in  a hos- 
pital. But  reliable  persons  receive  ambulatory  treatment 
at  the  hands  of  municipal  physicians, — men,  at  the  of- 
fice of  the  physician,  women  at  the  Board  of  Health 
office  where  a woman  physician  is  on  duty.  The  police 
are  invoked  only  if  an  individual  having  been  “ de- 
nounced ” neglects  or  refuses  to  comply  with  the  sum- 
mons of  the  Health  Department.  Persons  who,  having 
knowledge  of  their  infectious  condition,  communicate 
disease,  are  punished  with  imprisonment  for  not  exceed- 
ing three  years. 

The  Danish  law  dealing  with  the  subject  represents  a 

the  following  points: 

1.  That  I am  suffering  from  Syphilis. 

2.  That  my  disease  is  contagious  for  at  least  . . years. 

3.  That  I am  punishable,  if  I in  any  way  expose  others  to  infection. 

Copies  of  Penal  Code,  Sections  155  and  358  received. 

Date. 

Signature. 

4 The  invitation  is  as  follows : 

Christiania  Health  Board, 
Second  Health  Inspector. 

You  are  respectfully  requested  to  report  at  the  office  at  No.  55 
Akers  Street,  third  floor, as  it  is  desired  to  talk  to  you. 

Christiania,  the 19.... 

346 


Abolition  and  Disease 


gradual  evolution  greatly  hastened  in  its  final  stages 
by  the  Norwegian  example.5  The  proffer  of  free  treat- 
ment dates  back  to  1788;  a law  of  1874  sought  to  im- 
pose an  obligation  to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity ; 
in  the  law  of  March  30,  1906,  fifteen  of  the  eighteen  para- 
graphs which  compose  the  statute  deal  with  the  prob- 
lem of  venereal  infection.6  The  main  provisions  are  the 
following:7  It  is  made  a punishable  offence  to  com- 
municate venereal  infection  even  as  between  husband  and 
wife;  any  person  who  in  ignorance  of  his  or  her  condition 
infects  another  is  liable  for  the  medical  charges  and 
damages;  venereally  infected  persons  may,  regardless  of 
their  ability  to  pay,  receive  free  treatment  from  the  mu- 
nicipality; they  are  in  duty  bound  to  submit  to  such  free 
treatment  if  they  are  themselves  unable  to  employ  a phy- 
sician; if  the  manner  of  living  of  the  patient  is  such  as 
to  endanger  others,  or  if  the  patient  does  not  observe 
directions,  or  is  a pauper  in  receipt  of  aid,  he  or  she 
may  be  forcibly  interned, — the  decision  to  rest  with  the 
police  officials8  ; patients  can  be  required  to  continue 
under  medical  observation  even  after  the  conclusion  of 
their  regular  treatment;  every  physician  is  obligated  to 

5 Hoff,  loc.  cit.,  p.  5. 

6 For  the  text  of  the  statute,  translated  into  English,  see  Appendix. 

7 It  should  be  mentioned  that  in  Germany  too  a start  has  been 
made  in  this  direction. 

Section  223  of  the  German  Penal  Code  can  be  invoked  against 
any  person  “injuring  the  health  of  another;”  the  penalty  is  im- 
prisonment up  to  three,  years  or  fine  up  to  1,000  marks.  There  is 
considerable  agitation  in  favor  of  provisions  explicitly  aimed  at 
venereal  disease.  See,  e.  g.,  M.  Homburger,  Die  strafrechtliche  Be- 
deutung  der  Geschlechtskrankheiten,  Zeitschrift  XI,  pp.  28,  63,  and 
205. 

8 This  is  an  important  variation  from  the  Norwegian  prototype  and 
indicates  the  compromise  spirit  that  here  and  there  appears  in  the 
Danish  law. 


347 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

hand  venereal  patients  a printed  warning  against  mar- 
riage and  against  sexual  intercourse,  and  to  explain  the 
legal  liabilities  incurred  through  violation  of  this  in- 
junction; every  physician  must  report  the  instances  in 
which  such  action  has  been  taken  by  him  9 ; patients  are 
free  to  indicate  the  supposed  source  of  their  infection, 
though  not  obliged  to  do  so,  and  the  physician  may  in 
his  discretion  report  such  alleged  source  to  the  police, 
who  may  or  may  not  take  action  thereon;  a child,  suf- 
fering with  syphilis  may  not  be  nursed  by  any  one  other 
than  its  own  mother;  nor  may  a syphilitic  wet  nurse 
continue  the  practice  of  her  vocation.  A woman  ar- 
rested for  any  offence  connected  with  prostitution  or  on 
the  charge  of  infecting  another  may  with  her  consent 
be  medically  examined  through  the  police ; in  case  of  re- 
fusal to  submit,  the  courts  shall  have  the  power  to  order 
the  same;  compulsory  examination  must  be  carried  out 
by  paid  municipal  physicians  of  the  same  sex  as  the 
accused;  these  same  physicians  are  obligated  to  examine 
all  applicants  and  to  treat  all  venereal  patients  without 
either  demanding  or  accepting  a fee;  in  Copenhagen  mu- 
nicipal clinics  must  be  maintained  by  the  department  of 
health  in  different  parts  of  the  city;  the  patient  can  be 
required  to  return  for  treatment  at  appointed  times  and 
if  sent  to  the  hospital  may  be  compelled  to  remain  until 
discharged  by  the  physician.  Should  the  patient  fail  to 
obey  instructions,  the  case  must  be  reported  by  the  at- 
tending physician  to  the  City  physician,  who  is  author- 
ized to  take  action.10 

9 The  law  does  not  require  that  the  name  of  the  patient  be  re- 
ported, but  it  must  be  correctly  given  to  the  physician. 

10  Slips  containing  instructions  as  to  the  nature  of  the  disease,  the 

348 


Abolition  and  Order 

The  municipal  clinics,  maintained  for  the  purposes 
above  stated,  seven  in  number,  are  prominently  announced 
on  every  advertising  obelisk.  As  indicating  the  direct 
way  in  which  the  subject  is  handled,  I reproduce  on  page 
350  the  bulletin.11 

At  Rome,  side  by  side  with  the  ineffective  municipal 
regulatory  system  previously  described,  the  royal  gov- 
ernment of  Italy  has,  by  a law  approved  August  1,  1907, 
instituted  a dispensary  system,  in  many  respects  closely 
following  the  Danish  type.  The  measure  provides  for 
“ gratuitous  public  prophylaxis  of  gonorrhoea,  soft 
chancre,  and  syphilis.”  12  The  dispensaries  are  to  be  or- 
ganized by  the  communes  acting  in  cooperation  with  the 
ministry  of  the  Interior,  or  in  default  of  such  arrange- 
ment, by  the  Interior  department  itself ; the  expense  is  to 
be  borne  by  the  commune  assisted  by  governmental  aid ; 
physicians  shall  be  appointed  by  the  govermnent ; “ they 
shall  treat  without  any  distinction  all  sufferers  from  ven- 
ereal diseases  who  apply  to  the  dispensaries.  The  cure 
is  gratuitous  for  all  alike.”  13  Provision  is  further  made 
for  hospital  facilities.  Supplementary  sections  en- 
deavor to  bring  professional  prostitutes  within  the  scope 
of  the  act. 

Between  the  Italian  and  the  Scandinavian  legislation 
above  summarized  there  is,  however,  an  important  dis- 
tinction. The  Italian  scheme  is  wholly  and  uncondi- 
tionally voluntary  and  hygienic;  it  lacks  altogether  com- 

patient’s  proper  conduct  while  under  treatment  and  the  penalties  to 
which  misconduct  may  lead  are  also,  as  in  Norway,  handed  to  him 
or  her. 

11  Its  dimensions  are  I7"x26". 

12  Sanitary  Laws , revised  text,  Section  III,  Articles  136-156. 

13  Ibid.,  Article  144. 

349 


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350 


Health  Board  of  Copenhagen,  April  1,  1911. 


Abolition  and  Disease 


pulsory  features,  addressing  itself  unreservedly  to  health, 
without  regard  to  either  order  or  morals.  A ministerial 
circular,  interpreting  its  scope  and  purpose  declares: 
“ Any  construction  of  the  law  aiming  to  ascertain  the 
presence  of  disease  is  unlawful  and  in  opposition  to  its 
purport,  because  the  police  spirit  leads  to  the  conceal- 
ment of  disease  and  avoidance  of  cure.  Compulsory  ac- 
tion is  offensive  to  the  liberty  and  dignity  of  human  per- 
sonality. The  prophylaxis  of  venereal  disease  is  to  be 
kept  entirely  distinct  from  the  protection  of  morals  and 
the  measures  of  the  police.  The  two  services  differ  in 
object, — • the  one  having  a hygienic  end,  the  other  aim- 
ing to  protect  public  order.  Confusion  is  dangerous 
and  constitutes  an  abuse.”  14 

As  contrasted  with  this  thoroughgoing  acceptance  of 
the  voluntary  point  of  view,  the  Danish  policy  retains 
certain  vestiges  of  police  complicity.  It  includes,  for  ex- 
ample, the  right  of  compulsory  examination  in  case  of 
women  arrested  for  offences  indicative  of  professional 
prostitution  15  ; it  continues  to  relate  the  police  to  vene- 
real disease,  through  the  compulsory  proviso  above  cited 
and  through  the  provisions  encouraging  the  disclosure 
of  the  supposed  source  of  the  infection.16 

As  to  the  wisdom  of  the  above  mentioned  provisions 

14  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  Direction-General  of  Public  Health. 
Telegraphic  Circular  to  the  Prefects  of  the  Kingdom:  " The 
Prophylaxis  of  Venereal  Diseases.”  (Abridged.) 

15  If  the  woman  objects,  examination  can  be  made  only  if  or- 
dered by  the  court.  As  a matter  of  fact,  objection  is  rare,  as  the 
courts  would  not  hesitate  to  grant  the  necessary  authority. 

16  This  provision  was  in  a somewhat  different  form  included  in 
the  Regulatory  Statute  of  1866,  where  it  was  provided  that  a 
registered  prostitute  could  be  punished  if  she  knowingly  communi- 
cated infection ; but  punishments  were  rare,  since  the  girl  could 
always  shield  herself  behind  the  fact  that  the  police  surgeons  had 

351 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

grave  doubt  exists.  They  are  unquestionably  in  conflict 
with  the  spirit  animating  the  statute  as  a whole.  Dr. 
Santoliquido,  the  author  and  administrator  of  the  un- 
qualified Italian  scheme,  is  strongly  of  the  opinion  that 
the  slightest  taint  of  police  complicity  or  the  slightest  sug- 
gestion of  publicity  seriously  impedes  the  utilization  of  the 
facilities  offered.17  The  Danish  lawmakers  were  evi- 
dently afraid  to  be  thoroughgoing.  On  the  one  hand 
they  were  entirely  clear  that  regulation  failed,  not  only 
because  it  reached  no  men  and  relatively  few  women, 
but  because  the  association  of  disease  with  crime  tended 
to  drive  disease  into  hiding.  They  saw  that,  to  entice 
it  out,  to  ensure  more  general,  more  skillful,  more  thor- 
ough treatment,  the  interest  and  the  intelligence  of  the 
patients  had  to  be  appealed  to;  they  must  be  taught  to 
be  cured  for  their  own  sakes  and  that  of  others ; and  in 
order  that  every  obstacle  thereto  might  be  removed, 
treatment  offered  in  a scientific  spirit  must  be  made  free 
and  accessible.  They  feared,  however,  to  leave  the  mat- 
ter at  this  point ; they  felt  that  some  provision  had  to  be 
made  for  backsliders ; and  to  keep  these  under  treatment, 
even  against  their  own  inclination,  the  intervention  of 
the  police  was  made  possible.  Undoubtedly  the  individ- 
uals immediately  concerned  may  thus  gain, — for  they 
may  be  helped.  But  the  danger  is  that  unfortunate  in- 
direct effects  may  more  than  outweigh  the  direct  favor- 
able effects.  The  vestige  of  the  police  spirit  may  hinder 
the  very  transformation  in  the  attitude  of  those  afflicted 

pronounced  her  well  — an  interesting'  illustration  of  the  way  in 
which  the  medical  examination  may  defeat  its  own  object. 

17  His  views  are  stated  in  his  Report  to  the  Tenth  International 
Congress  of  Hygiene  and  Demography , held  at  Paris,  1900. 

352 


Abolition  and  Disease 


that  the  legislation  hoped  to  bring  about  Thus  inci- 
dental compulsion  may  tend  to  tear  down  what  the  law 
as  a whole  endeavors  to  build  up.18 

As  opposed  then  to  the  Italian  policy  of  leaving  the 
matter  wholly  to  individuals  and  endeavoring  to  educate 
them  to  take  advantage  of  abundant  facilities,  the  Danish 
plan  leaves  the  matter  to  individuals,  if  the  individual 
is  willing  to  act  intelligently;  but  it  endeavors  to  coerce 
the  rest.  There  is,  however,  some  doubt  as  to  whether 
the  second  part  of  the  Danish  arrangement  does  not  tend 
to  defeat  the  first.  Even  under  police  regulation  we 
observed  that  most  was  achieved  where  force  was  most 
completely  dissembled;  and,  wherever,  as  at  Paris,  police 
regulation  and  voluntary  hospital  facilities  are  both  pro- 
vided, the  latter  are  far  more  effective  than  the  former. 
Moreover,  the  remnant  of  police  compulsion  is  always  in 
danger  of  relapsing  into  regulation,  applicable  mainly, 
perhaps  altogether,  to  women,— a policy  to  which  we 
have  discovered  insurmountable  objections. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  theory  of  the  law,  then, — - 
that  abundant  facilities  for  treatment  coupled  with  an  un- 
qualified appeal  to  the  intelligence  and  self-interest  of 
the  patient  is  likely  to  reach,  on  the  whole,  the  largest 
number  of  the  afflicted  — grave  question  may  also  be 
raised  regarding  denunciation  of  the  source  of  a par- 

18  Dr.  Hoff  points  out  ( loc . cit.,  p.  8)  that  similar  police  assist- 
ance may  also  be  procured  by  the  health  authorities  in  dealing  with 
other  contagious  or  infectious  maladies.  Practically,  however,  it 
would  seem  that  the  cases  are  not  entirely  analogous,  since  one  of 
the  main  difficulties  in  getting  control  of  venereal  disease  lies  in 
the  police  association  with  the  subject  which  has  to  be  effaced. 
Moreover,  the  repugnance  to  publicity,  and  the  sense  of  shame  at- 
tending venereal  infection  are  also  factors  to  be  reckoned  with. 


353 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ticular  venereal  infection.  On  its  face,  the  transaction 
appears  reasonable  enough  : a sufferer,  after  interroga- 
tion by  his  physician  or  of  his  own  motion,  may  report 
his  belief  that  he  was  contaminated  by  this  woman  or 
that.19  The  information  communicated  by  the  doctor 
to  the  police  is  held  in  strict  confidence,  and  the  person 
involved  may  be  requested  to  call  at  police  headquarters ; 
where,  being  informed  of  the  nature  of  the  accusation, 
it  is  suggested  that  he  (or  she)  consult  a physician, — 
a municipal  physician  or  a physician  of  the  individual’s 
own  choosing;  should  he  (or  she)  be  reported  as  ill, 
treatment  may  be  compelled,  if  the  individual  declines 
otherwise  to  submit.20 

On  its  face,  I say,  this  looks  like  a not  unreasonable 
method  of  attacking  infection  at  its  source  in  the  case 
of  persons  who  lack  the  conscience  or  the  intelligence 
to  act  of  their  own  accord;  for  clearly  the  foci  thus 
reached  might,  if  left  alone,  have  continued,  ignorantly 
or  malevolently,  to  breed  further  contamination.  De- 
nunciation aims  to  bring  these  concealed  sources  to  light ; 
offers  them  treatment,  if  they  are  intelligent  enough  to 
take  advantage  of  such  opportunity ; and  adds  the  state’s 
right  and  power  to  compel  a proper  course  of  action,  if, 
for  any  reason  whatsoever,  they  are  differently  minded. 

19  I take  the  case  of  an  infected  man ; the  same  process  applies 
to  an  infected  woman  who  is  free  to  denounce  the  man  responsi- 
ble for  her  condition. 

20  The  action  of  the  police  is  based  on  Section  181  of  the  Penal 
Code  reading  as  follows: 

Sec.  181.  When  anyone  knowing  or  suspecting  himself  to  be  in- 
fected with  venereal  contagion,  has  intercourse  with  another  per- 
son, punishment  by  imprisonment  shall  be  imposed,  or,  under  ag- 
gravating circumstances,  detention  at  hard  labor  in  the  House  of 
Correction. 


354 


Abolition  and  Disease 


As  a matter  of  fact,  the  thing  is  by  no  means  so  simple. 
In  the  first  place,  with  the  best  intention,  the  patient 
may  be  mistaken  as  to  the  source  of  his  or  her  infection. 
Prostitution  is  promiscuous  on  both  sides.  The  women 
notoriously  consort  in  quick  succession  with  many  men; 
men  often  consort  with  different  women.  The  periods 
of  incubation  are  more  or  less  indefinite  and  variable, 
so  that  a mere  reckoning  back  to  a particular  act  of 
intercourse  is  not  conclusive.  In  one  set  of  cases,  care- 
fully studied  from  this  standpoint,21  over  half  of  those 
questioned  were  unable  to  throw  any  light  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

The  very  difficulty  in  question  opens  the  way  to  error 
and  abuse.  Despite  the  confidential  fashion  in  which  the 
subject  is  handled,  the  humiliation  involved  in  a mis- 
taken or  false  accusation  is  no  trifle.  The  same  prin- 
ciple holds  here  as  in  respect  to  arrest  for  alleged  solicita- 
tions— a single  error  is  worse  than  a hundred  omis- 
sions. It  is  a totally  different  thing  from  a mistaken 
allegation  that  some  other  infectious  disease  exists  in  a 
given  house  or  person, — diphtheria,  for  example,  or 
scarlet  fever.  The  manner  in  which  venereal  disease 
is  usually  contracted,  the  implications  attending  its  pres- 
ence, set  it  off  in  a class  by  itself,  and  open  the  door 
to  abuses  for  which  other  contagious  diseases  give  no 
opportunity.  A procedure  that  might,  therefore,  be 
safely  employed  in  reference  to  scarlet  fever,  if  feasible 

21  Oppenheim  and  Neugebauer  ( Zeitschrift  XII,  p.  314)  give  the 
results  of  an  endeavor  to  locate  the  sources  of  2,472  infections; 
1,365  of  those  afflicted  were  unable  or  refused  to  give  any  helpful 
information.  Some  patients  desire  to  screen  their  partners ; some 
are  plainly  unreliable;  others  have  offended  so  frequently  that  their 
answers  are  mere  guesses.  See  Ibid.,  p.  306. 

355 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

or  necessary,  may  be  totally  inapplicable  to  syphilis. 

The  experience  of  Copenhagen  has  quite  fully  justified 
these  doubts.  Denunciation  is  an  invitation  to  black- 
mail; it  can  be  and  has  been  employed  by  men  simply 
to  rid  themselves  of  women  of  whom  they  have  tired; 
for,  while  in  theory  equally  applicable  to  both  sexes,  un- 
der existing  conditions  women  have  most  to  fear  from 
it.  For  this  reason,  physicians  do  not  regularly 
report  to  the  police  the  alleged  sources  of  infection; 
nor  do  the  police  always  act  even  on  such  denuncia- 
tions as  reach  them.  But  despite  the  caution  with 
which  the  police  act,  it  happens  not  infrequently  that  de- 
nounced women  prove  on  examination  to  be  free  of  in- 
fection. Women  wishing  to  be  revenged  upon  former 
“ friends  ”or  lovers  do  not  hesitate  to  employ  the  same 
device;  and  not  infrequently  with  a similar  result.  The 
following  table  shows  the  results  of  the  examinations 
made  at  the  instance  of  the  Copenhagen  police  during  a 
series  of  years : 22 


I 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 


a 

cS 

X 

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.410 

.609 

•739 

.822 

.780 


s 

a 

22 

6l 

36 

25 

40 


£ 

v 

I 

388 

548 

703 

797 

740 


o 

21 

54 

28 

14 

24 


No.  persons  report-  3 
ed  for  not  continu-Jj 
ing  treatment  £ U 


o ~ 
&•’■* 
172 
195 
226 
155 
160 


Men  Women 


154 

218 

238 

336 

364 


37 
60 
95 
130 
11 7 


°.1 

O <u 

& u 

68 

89 

1 12 
141 
133 


The  figures  above  given  by  no  means  represent  all 
the  accusations  filed  with  the  police.  They  are  those 

22  Compiled  from  Police  Reports.  Slight  discrepancies  in  the 
totals  are  due  to  the  occasional  appearance  of  the  same  person 
more  than  once. 

356 


Abolition  and  Disease 


only  that  the  department  felt  justified  in  following  up. 
As  the  police  cannot  permit  themselves  to  be  made  an 
indiscriminate  instrument  of  private  oppression  or  venge- 
ance, they  use  their  own  discretion  as  to  whether  they 
will  act  on  a given  “ denunciation.”  Necessarily  there- 
fore their  action  is  so  uncertain  as  to  be  quite  ineffective ; 
with  anything  less  than  the  most  complete  integrity  it 
might  readily  be  something  worse  than  uncertain.  The 
officials  are  therefore  in  serious  doubt  as  to  whether  de- 
nunciation is  workable  even  under  the  comparatively  sim- 
ple conditions  of  the  Norwegian  and  Danish  capitals ; of  a 
commission  of  nine  persons  recently  appointed  to  con- 
sider the  question  in  Copenhagen,  five  members  favored 
repeal;  four  favored  retention,  not  on  the  ground  of  its 
general  value,  but  as  a means  of  reaching  utterly  reckless 
or  insane  individuals  who  go  so  far  as  to  boast  of  their 
success  in  disseminating  disease.23 

But  perhaps  a more  serious  objection  to  denunciation 
from  the  purely  sanitary  standpoint  lies  here; — that  it 
continues  the  hurtful  association  of  venereal  disease  with 
the  police.  It  works  in  this  respect  like  the  reporting  of 
patients  who  break  off  treatment  without  authorization. 
A certain  number  can,  of  course,  be  laid  hold  of.  Of 
1,749  cases  recorded  in  the  table  given,  543  were 
compelled  or  induced  to  resume  treatment.  This  is,  of 
course,  so  much  to  the  good;  but  suppose  it  impedes 
the  wider  acceptance  and  operation  of  the  voluntary 
principle,  on  which,  in  the  long  run,  the  success  of  the 
dispensary  system  depends?  The  large  number  of  dis- 

23  A case  was  reported  of  a man  who  kept  a list  of  those  he  sup- 
posed himself  to  have  infected. 


357 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

appearances  above  noted  suggests  the  repellent  outcome 
of  this  traditional  association,  which  must  be  com- 
pletely uprooted,  if  persons  ill  of  venereal  disease  are 
to  seek  treatment  as  readily  as  those  ill  of  measles  or 
mumps.24 

The  final  columns  of  the  table  given  on  page  356  de- 
serve comment  on  another  score.  During  five  years, 
i,749  persons  discontinued  treatment  for  venereal  disease 
before  they  were  dismissed  by  their  physicians : of  them, 
1,310  were  men,  439  were  women.  It  would  appear, 
therefore,  that  men  may  be  less  intelligent  and  con- 
scientious than  women  in  the  pursuit  of  regular  and 
voluntary  treatment.  Either  sex  may,  of  course,  be 
the  means  of  indefinitely  spreading  infection, — women 
by  infecting  a series  of  men,  men  by  infecting  a series 
of  women.  If  compulsory  medical  examination  and 
treatment  (i.  e.  regulation)  are  therefore  to  be  applied 
to  only  one  sex,  they  ought,  in  the  light  of  the  Copen- 
hagen figures,  to  be  applied  to  men  rather  than  to 
women, — for  of  the  two  sexes,  compulsion,  if  desirable, 
would  be  best  applied  to  the  sex  that  makes  the  less  use 
of  voluntary  opportunity. 

The  problematical  points  above  discussed  do  not,  how- 
ever, touch  the  heart  of  the  subject.  At  bottom,  the  is- 
sue between  regulation  and  abolition  turns  upon  this  ques- 
tion: are  the  ravages  of  venereal  disease  more  likely 
to  be  mitigated  by  the  medical  examination  and  compul- 

24  A counter  advantage  ought  also  to  be  mentioned.  The  fear  of 
a possible  denunciation  probably  induces  some  who  find  themselves 
diseased  to  submit  to  treatment.  And  a counter  disadvantage : 
women  are  much  more  often  denounced  than  men, — a survival  of 
the  unfairness  of  regulation. 


358 


Abolition  and  Disease 


sory  treatment  of  registered  prostitutes,  assuming  such 
examination  and  treatment  to  be  as  intelligent  as  they 
can  be  made,  or  by  the  provision  of  free,  abundant  and 
confidential  opportunities  for  all  sufferers,  assuming  that 
the  dispensaries  are  as  well  conducted  as  they  can  pos- 
sibly be?  In  behalf  of  patient  and  thorough  experimen- 
tation along  the  latter  line,  the  failure  of  regulation  is  of 
course  the  first  and  perhaps  most  powerful  argument. 
The  Italian  sanitarians  lean  largely  on  another, — that 
compulsion  can  in  no  event  be  defended,  since  it  involves 
an  infraction  of  personal  liberty.  In  my  judgment,  it  is 
a pity  to  raise  a metaphysical  issue  of  this  kind.  Could 
it  be  once  proved  that  compulsion  succeeds,  society  would 
probably  not  permit  itself  to  be  balked  by  abstract  prin- 
ciples of  personal  liberty;  a not  dissimilar  argument  by 
anti-vaccinationists  has  been  peremptorily  overruled  by 
most  civilized  states.  No  individual’s  liberty  can  be  made 
to  include  the  privilege  of  spreading  contagion,  if  a dem- 
onstrated method  of  checking  the  process  is  known.  In 
this  volume,  I have  throughout  endeavored  to  meet  reg- 
ulation on  its  own  ground.  A verdict  unfavorable  to 
regulation  has  been  found  in  the  first  instance,  not  be- 
cause it  violates  personal  liberty,  but  because  it  fails; 
because  it  is  at  least  useless  in  respect  to  order,  and  worse 
than  useless  in  respect  to  venereal  disease.  In  the  same 
way,  the  voluntary  system  is  recommended,  not  because 
it  is  consonant  with  modern  theories  of  individuality, 
but  because  it  may  prove  the  most  effective  way  of  throw- 
ing light  upon  the  dark  corners  in  which  disease  hud- 
dles and  multiplies. 

Experience  affords  as  yet  no  conclusive  proof  of  the 

359 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

superiority  of  the  voluntary  system.  Its  introduction 
is  too  recent  and  too  limited  to  have  as  yet  affected  the 
general  situation.  Moreover,  the  system  can  not  be 
judged  until  communities  have  been  educated  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  it,  or  — what  comes  to  the  same  thing  — until 
it  becomes  evident  that  it  is  impossible  to  educate  the 
afflicted  to  take  advantage  of  it.  Time  is  a most  im- 
portant factor  in  this  matter.  The  ancient  police  as- 
sociation must  altogether  die  out;  even  the  feeling  of 
personal  humiliation  about  contamination  must  be  taught 
to  subordinate  itself  to  a realization  of  the  duty  of  sub- 
mitting to  competent  treatment.  It  is  not  surprising  to 
find  that  the  women  formerly  registered  in  Copenhagen 
used  their  freedom  in  the  first  instance  to  stay  away; 
the  more  intelligent  consulted  private  physicians,  but  the 
others  simply  ignored  their  condition.  This  experience 
does  not  prove  either  the  wisdom  or  necessity  of  reg- 
ulation; it  proves  only  the  baneful  effect  of  associating 
hygiene  with  the  police  and  the  necessity  of  patience  until 
the  former  association  is  dissolved  and  an  entirely  new 
association  created. 

How  far  results  may  be  claimed  for  the  voluntary  sys- 
tem, I shall  consider  in  a moment.  But  certainly  the  way 
the  system  operates  creates  a presumption  thus  far  in 
its  favor.  Notwithstanding  the  partial  retention  of  the 
police  connection,  the  dispensaries  of  Copenhagen  are 
already  treating  more  women  than  formerly  were  reached 
by  regulation;  in  the  year  1910,  of  all  cases  reported  to 
the  Health  Office,  40%  had  taken  advantage  of  the  dis- 
pensaries. The  following  tables  exhibit  the  attendance 

360 


Abolition  and  Disease 


of  new  patients  at  the  free  dispensaries  during  the  years 
1910  and  1911 : 25 

Reported 
for  failure 
Sent  into  to  keep  up 


Year 

Men 

Women 

Children 

Hospital 

Treatment 

1910  ... 

,...3,991 

1,090 

78 

750 

238 

1911  ... 

...3,748 

1,165 

72 

644 

277 

Moreover,  the  attitude  of  the  prostitutes  themselves  is 
perceptibly  changing.  I mentioned  above  that  at  the 
outset  they  refused  to  attend  the  dispensaries.  I was, 
however,  reliably  informed  that  this  is  no  longer  the 
case  to  anything  like  the  same  extent.  Women  who 
formerly  endeavored  to  “ evade  the  whole  thing de- 
scribe themselves  now  as  only  “ too  glad  to  come.”  M. 
Augagneur  submitted  to  the  French  Extra-Parliamentary 
Commission  a comparative  table  strongly  confirmatory 
of  the  Danish  experience.  The  record  in  question  runs 
from  1876  to  1903 ; it  shows  the  number  of  women  — 
registered  and  non-registered  prostitutes  respectively  — 
who  were  treated  for  venereal  disease  at  the  Hospice  de 
l’Antiquaille : in  1876,  835  registered  prostitutes,  281 
non-registered.  Thereafter,  the  former  steadily  declined 
with  the  inevitable  disintegration  of  the  regulatory  sys- 
tem; the  latter  tended  to  rise.  In  the  final  year  (1903) 
the  registered  prostitutes  compulsorily  treated  numbered 
only  180;  the  clandestines  voluntarily  treated  had  in- 
creased to  327, — i.  e.,  the  number  receiving  voluntary 
treatment  was  almost  twice  as  large  as  the  number  re- 

25  These  figures  may  be  found  in  the  Health  Reports  of  Copen- 
hagen. For  the  form  in  which  they  appear  above  I am  indebted 
to  the  courtesy  of  Inspector  Schepelern-Larsen, 

361 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ceiving  compulsory  treatment,  despite  the  continuance 
of  the  police  association.26 

The  attitude  of  the  medical  profession  is  an  interest- 
ing indication  of  the  way  in  which  the  new  law  has 
worked.  At  the  outset,  nine-tenths  of  the  Copenhagen 
doctors  were  regulationists ; even  those  favorable  to  abo- 
lition were  fearful  of  sudden  abolition.  Nowadays  the 
medical  professions  of  both  Christiania  and  Copenhagen 
are  described  as  practically  unanimous  against  regula- 
tion. Dr.  Hoff  in  his  vigorous  pamphlet  above  quoted 
declares  that  the  Danish  law  may  indeed  be  modified  as 
to  details;  but  its  main  outlines  are  secure.  And  this, 
despite  the  fact  that  the  free  dispensary  has  practically 
effaced  the  specialists  in  venereal  diseases, — an  inciden- 
tal result  philosophically  accepted  by  those  whom  it  has 
affected.27 

A word  as  to  one  other  peculiarity  of  the  Scandinavian 
laws, — viz.  the  notification  of  venereal  disease.  In 
Christiania,  physicians  are  required  to  report  daily  to 
the  Health  Department,  without  names,  new  patients  suf- 
fering with  any  venereal  disease.28  The  Danish  law  is 
similar ; while  other  contagious  diseases  are  notifiable  with 
names,  venereal  diseases  are  notified  without  names  as 
a rule.  The  policeman  on  the  beat  collects  the  notices 
as  he  makes  his  rounds.  A circular,  dated  July  i,  1912, 
institutes  a similar  form  of  notification  in  Sweden.  It 
is  stated  that  all  cases  of  contagious  sexual  disease  must 
be  reported  by  the  attending  physician  in  franked  en- 

26  Annexes,  loc.  cit.,  p.  263. 

27  Some  of  these  were  partly  compensated  by  being  made  dis- 
pensary physicians. 

28  Originally  the  physicians  made  a monthly  report. 

362 


Abolition  and  Disease 


velops  to  the  “ official  physician  of  the  province  or  the 
board  of  health,  with  the  name  of  the  disease,  the  age 
and  sex  of  the  patient,  but  without  name  and  address.” 
Notification  answers  in  general  a statistical  purpose;  but 
in  Denmark,  a patient  who  interrupts  treatment  may  be 
reported  by  name  and  find  himself  forced  to  continue 
treatment  or  to  fly.  It  is  impossible  to  discover  that  no- 
tification itself  has  had  any  bad  effects  whatsoever.  It 
appears  rather  to  have  assisted  in  making  the  sufferer 
realize  his  danger  to  others, — precisely  as  the  notification 
of  other  diseases  has  resulted  in  increased  conscientious- 
ness. The  fear  one  observes  among  English  abolitionists, 
that  notification  may  prove  an  indirect  method  of  rein- 
stating regulation  of  one  sex  is  baseless,  in  so  far  as 
Denmark  and  Norway  are  concerned. 

Of  the  other  abolition  countries, — - Great  Britain, 
Switzerland  and  Holland,  none  has  as  yet  taken  the 
disease  problem  seriously.  Laissez-faire  — an  unrea- 
soning, prejudiced  laissez-faire , at  that  — still  prevails. 

In  England,  the  public  authorities  concerned  with  the 
prevention  and  treatment  of  disease  have  thus  far  made 
“ no  organized  effort  to  diminish  the  prevalence  of  vene- 
real disease/’  nor  would  the  desirability  of  their  interest- 
ing themselves  in  the  matter  “ be  accepted  as  indisput- 
able/’ 29  The  hospital  provisions  for  venereal  diseases 
are  utterly  inadequate.  Indoor  accommodation  in  the 
large  voluntary  hospitals  of  London  there  is  practically 
none, — * and  this  even  in  teaching  hospitals.  It  is  held 
that  “ it  is  unreasonable  to  expect  subscribers  to  spend 

29  R.  W.  Johnstone,  Report  on  Venereal  Diseases  (Local  Govern- 
ment Board,  London,  1913)  p.  1. 

363 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

their  money  on  rescuing  persons  from  the  consequences 
of  their  sins.”  30  The  Inspector  for  the  Local  Govern- 
ment Board  reports  that  “ no  beds  or  wards  were  re- 
served for  infective  venereal  cases  in  any  of  30  general 
hospitals  visited  in  London  and  the  provinces.  In  one 
of  the  London  hospitals,  a rule  precluded  the  treatment 
of  unmarried  women  suffering  from  venereal  disease, 
though  no  such  rule  existed  with  regard  to  unmarried 
men.”  31  A more  liberal  policy  characterizes  the  out-pa- 
tient departments,  though  their  organization  and  equip- 
ment are  both  defective.  The  poor  law  infirmaries  and 
workhouses  are  apt  to  be  better  equipped;  and  it  is  in- 
teresting to  note  in  passing  that  the  administrators  of 
these  institutions  when  asked  for  their  “ opinion  regard- 
ing the  advisability  of  endowing  the  guardians  with  the 
powers  of  compulsory  detention  (of  those  seeking  treat- 
ment for  venereal  complaints)  were  practically  unan- 
imous in  declaring  that  it  would  deter  patients  from  com- 
ing.” A few  special  hospitals  called  lock-hospitals  (the 
name  is  etymologically  obscure,  but  has  nothing  to  do 
with  “ lock-up  ”)  are  also  devoted  to  the  care  of  vene- 
real patients.  Of  these,  recent  writers  state:  The  lock- 

hospitals  are  pathetically  meager,  containing  “ in  Lon- 
don 136  beds  for  females,  27  for  males  ; elsewhere  about 
70,  making  perhaps  250  in  the  United  Kingdom.” 32 
Out-patient  services  are  also  found  in  connection  with 
the  lock-hospital.  English  conditions  in  this  respect 

30  Ibid , p.  20. 

31  Ditto  (all  slightly  abridged). 

32  White  and  Melville,  Venereal  Disease,  its  Present  and  Future. 
Paper  read  at  Annual  Congress  of  Royal  Institute  of  Public  Health, 
held  at  Dublin,  August,  1911,  p.  15. 

364 


Abolition  and  Disease 


therefore  deserve  the  severe  language  of  Sidney  and 
Beatrice  Webb:  “ The  man  or  woman  suffering  from 

gonorrhoea  or  syphilis,  even  if  the  innocent  victim  of 
another’s  guilt,  is  refused  admission  to  the  volun- 
tary hospital;  deterred,  and  as  often  as  possible,  hus- 
tled out  of  the  workhouse;  and  wholly  unprovided  for 
by  the  local  health  authority.”  33  Moreover,  the  method 
of  conducting  the  only  available  resort  — the  lock-hos- 
pital — is  more  or  less  repellent.  The  patient  is  made 
to  feel  that  his  cure  ought  also  to  be  a penance.  The 
head  nurse  opens  and  reads  all  letters  sent  or  received, 
a measure  that  marks  off  the  venereal  from  any  other  pa- 
tient. The  sanitary  spirit  is  as  yet  quite  undeveloped: 
“ I don’t  believe  in  making  it  safe  ” — remarked  the  sec- 
retary of  a lock-hospital  to  me,  just  as  we  entered  the 
children’s  ward,  where  thirty  to  forty  innocent  victims 
were  under  his  care,  the  moral  and  medical  aspects  of  the 
problem  as  yet  hindering  each  other  in  his  mind ! 

The  abolition  cities  on  the  Continent  are  in  respect  to 
hospital  facilities  much  better  off,  for  dermatological 
clinics,  including  beds  for  venereal  diseases,  form  part 
of  the  general  hospitals  in  large  cities. 

I have  now  briefly  described  conditions  as  to  the  laws 
and  hospital  provisions  relating  to  venereal  disease  in 
various  abolition  countries.  The  issue  between  abolition 
and  regulation  ought  in  theory  to  be  determinable  by  an 
inspection  of  statistical  results,  contrasting  the  results  in 
regulation  and  abolition  countries  respectively.  Is  this 
the  case? 

33  The  Prevention  of  Destitution  (London,  1912)  p.  33.  See  also 
notes,  pp.  43,  44. 

365 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

There  are  many  reasons  why  a summary  method  of 
settling  the  question  by  results  is  inapplicable.  In  the 
first  place,  available  data  are  neither  sufficiently  reliable 
nor  sufficiently  complete.34  Recent  improvements  in  di- 
agnostic art  show  the  existence  of  venereal  disease  where 
mere  clinical  examination  — up  to  recently  the  sole  re- 
liance of  the  physician  — is  incapable  of  discerning  it; 
in  some  cases,  the  same  improvements  now  result  in  a 
negative  diagnosis  where  superficial  appearance  might 
formerly  have  led  to  a positive  opinion.  Hence  one  seri- 
ous defect  of  even  conscientiously  compiled  figures.  But 
there  is  another  serious  source  of  error.  Such  general 
statistics  as  exist  are  in  an  extraordinary  degree  frac- 
tional and  unscientific.  Only  in  certain  small  sections  of 
Scandinavia  has  a more  or  less  accurate  system  of  re- 
porting been  in  vogue  for  even  a relatively  short  period. 
Elsewhere  our  inferences  must  be  based  on  hospital  and 
insurance  reports  or  rough  personal  estimates.  In  these 
conditions,  so  narrow  a question  as  the  issue  between  reg- 
ulation and  abolition  does  not  lend  itself  to  statistical 
determination.35 

34  Such  data  as  exist  can  be  found  in  various  treatises  on  venereal 
disease ; e.  g.,  in  Blaschko,  Hygiene  der  Prostitution.  Summarized 
statements  are  given  by  White  and  Melville,  loc.  cit.,  etc. 

35  Blaschko’s  summary  of  the  defects  of  the  statistical  procedure 
is  well  worth  reproducing.  Three  methods  have  been  employed  : 

(1)  Comparison  of  amount  of  disease  found  among  inscribed 
prostitutes  with  that  found  among  non-inscribed  prostitutes. 
The  latter  is  higher,  but  that  is  due  less  to  lack  of  medical 
control  than  to  the  lower  age. 

(2)  Inquiry  as  to  source  of  infection.  Not  significant  since  we 
know  nothing  of  the  ratio  of  the  two  groups  (registered  and 
non-registered)  to  the  number  of  their  customers  respectively. 

(3)  a.  Comparison  of  the  incidence  of  venereal  disease  in  places 

with  and  without  regulation. 

b.  Comparison  before  and  after  abolition. 

c.  Comparison  of  places  where  regulation  has  been  strict  with 

366 


Abolition  and  Disease 


Statistics  and  opinion,  however,  both  concur  in  an  in- 
direct contribution  to  the  problem.  Venereal  disease  is 
shown  by  both  to  be  so  widely  prevalent  in  regulated 
cities  that  one  marvels  whether  the  situation  could  really 
be  any  worse  under  even  the  most  radical  laissez-faire 
abolition.  It  is  a truism  that  physicians  eager  to  equip 
themselves  as  specialists  in  venereal  disease  resort  to  the 
crowded  clinics  of  Paris,  Vienna,  and  Berlin,  all  reg- 
ulated towns,  because  there  disease  is  found  in  greatest 
abundance  and  richest  variety,—  a strange  comment  on 
the  alleged  efficacy  of  regulation!  On  the  basis  of  all 
available  sources  of  information,  Blaschko  calculates  that 
of  the  clerks  and  merchants  in  Berlin  between  18  and 
28  years  of  age,  45%  have  had  syphilis,  120%  have  had 
gonorrhoea;  77%  have  had  syphilis,  200%  have  had  gon- 
orrhoea in  Breslau.36  Similar  inquiry  among  students 
shows  according  to  the  same  investigator,  that  “ in  the 
course  of  his  four  years  at  the  University,  every  student 
is  venereally  infected  at  least  once, — * a statement  that 
no  one  familiar  with  the  facts  will  be  inclined  to  ques- 
tion.” 37  Pinkus  declares  that  in  Germany  one  man  in 
every  five  has  had  syphilis,38  and  that  gonorrhoea  aver- 
ages more  than  one  attack  per  man.39 

An  attempt  was  made  by  the  Prussian  Government  to 
take  a census  of  the  amount  of  venereal  disease  among 

places  where  it  has  fluctuated.  These  ignore  other  factors 
that  greatly  influence  the  phenomenon  in  question.  (Art.  Die 
Prostitution , pp.  1243-44,  abridged). 

36  Hygiene  der  Prostitution,  loc.  cit.,  p.  31.  If  the  incidence  of 
gonorrhoea  is  placed  at  200%,  the  average  is  two  attacks. 

37  Ibid.,  p.  32. 

38  V erhiitung  der  Geschlechtskrankheiten,  p.  7. 

39  Ibid.,  p.  21. 


367 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

men  in  the  Kingdom  on  "April  30,  1900.  It  developed  — 
as  far  as  the  returns  showed  — that  in  general  on  that 
day  28  men  out  of  every  10,000  were  infected;  in  Berlin, 
however,  the  average  was  142  per  10,000;  in  cities  of 
over  100,000  inhabitants,  100  per  10,000;  in  the  cities 
of  over  30,000  inhabitants,  58  per  10,000;  in  cities  un- 
der 30,000  inhabitants,  45  per  10,000.  The  results  may 
be  represented  thus: 


Figure  I. — Venereal  disease  among  males  in  the  population  of  Prus- 
sia, April  30,  1900. 


The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  Figure  I is  obvious: 
the  amount  of  venereal  disease  is  in  direct  relation  to 
the  size  of  the  town.  The  figures  given  cannot  ac- 
curately represent  the  actual  totals ; but  they  may  never- 
theless give  a fairly  reliable  indication  of  relative  condi- 
tions. The  steady  decrease  with  the  size  of  the  city 
appears  to  suggest  the  main,  perhaps  the  sole  important 
concrete  factor,  viz.,  the  size  of  the  city;  a factor  upon 
which  we  shall  stumble  again  in  another  connection. 

368 


Abolition  and  Disease 


A similar  inquiry  was  also  made  in  Sweden,  with  a 
view  to  determining  how  many  persons  were  under  treat- 
ment for  infectious  venereal  disease  January  31,  1905. 
A questionnaire  was  sent  to  1,264  physicians,  of  whom 
1, 18 1 replied.40  The  Swedish  and  Prussian  figures  are 
set  side  by  side  in  the  following  table:41 

SWEDEN  (JAN  31,  1905)  PRUSSIA  (APR.  30,  1900) 


Soft  Soft 

Syph.  chancre  Gon.  Syph.  chancre  Gon. 

Stockholm  (pop.  Berlin  ........ .23.6  5.8  53.2 


317,964)  23.  1.2  31.2  Seventeen  cities 

Goteborg  (pop.  of  more  than 

138,030)  15.6  1.4  18.9  100,000  inhab..i7.8  3.5  32.6 

Malmo  (pop.)  Forty-two  cities 

70,797)  14.4  3.1  28.6  30-100,000  ...10.8  1.9  19.6 

Norrkoping  Whole  King- 

( pop.  44,378)  .11.3  0.3  16.8  dom  5.1  1. 1 9-9 

Whole  King- 
dom.   3.6  0.3  5.4 

A more  definite  impression  is  obtainable  regarding  the 
incidence  of  venereal  disease  in  European  armies:  do 
the  curves  thus  arrived  at  throw  any  light  on  the  issue 
between  regulation  and  abolition?  The  subjoined  graph 
(Fig.  II)  embodies  the  official  statistics  of  the  war  offices 
of  Europe  from  1881  to  1905. 

At  first  sight,  the  graph  might  be  interpreted  as 
a conclusive  argument  in  behalf  of  regulation.  But  care- 
ful consideration  entirely  changes  its  significance.  In 
the  first  place,  the  earlier  or  more  unfavorable  English 
statistics  are  stated  to  be  altogether  unreliable.  It  is 
indeed  on  the  face  of  the  matter  impossible  to  credit 
anything  like  the  precipitous  decline  depicted.  More- 

40  To  the  Prussian  blank  it  is  stated  only  63.45%  of  the  physicians 
applied  to  responded.  Report,  Swedish  Com.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1. 

41  Ibid.,  pp.  15-10. 

369 


370 


Abolition  and  Disease 


over,  the  implied  comparison  is  itself  unfair.  A conti- 
nental army  includes  the  youth  of  the  entire  nation, — all 
those  between  certain  ages, — city  and  country  boys  alike ; 
the  good  elements  dilute  the  showing  that  would  be  made 
by  the  bad.  The  English  army,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a 
volunteer  force,  largely  recruited  from  among  the  ad- 
venturous and  the  derelict, — precisely  those  among 
whom  an  inordinately  large  proportion  of  venereal  dis- 
ease would  naturally  occur.  The  continental  curves  may 
represent  the  condition  of  the  total  male  population  of 
the  ages  in  question;  the  English  curve  speaks  for  only 
a single  section  and  the  two  cannot  be  directly  compared. 
Moreover,  the  very  magnitude  of  the  discrepancy  is  fatal 
to  its  explanation  by  regulation.  The  marked  varia- 
tions between  the  armies  of  regulated  countries, — Italy, 
Austria,  and  Prussia,  indicate  clearly  the  existence  of 
other  factors.  Finally,  there  is  observable  a general 
movement  downwards  coinciding  with  the  breakup  of 
regulation  on  the  Continent.  If  regulation  exerts  a per- 
ceptible effect,  its  narrowing  scope  ought  to  be  attended 
by  a gradual  rise  in  the  curves,  instead  of  the  reverse. 

To  whatever  the  general  differences  in  the  curves  be 
due,  there  is  nothing  in  them  to  suggest  that  regulation 
plays  any  role  whatsoever.  Closer  consideration  of 
separate  curves  will  establish  this  proposition  beyond  dis- 
pute. The  English  Contagious  Diseases  Acts,  under 
which  medical  inspection  of  prostitutes  was  instituted, 
were  repealed  in  1886,42  the  very  year  in  which  the  graph 
records  the  highest  incidence  of  venereal  disease  in  the 
army.  Repeal  was  followed,  not  by  a rise,  but  by  a fall 

42  The  laws  wen?  suspended  in  1884. 

371 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

that,  except  for  the  interlude  created  by  the  Boer  War, 
has  continued  almost  uninterruptedly  from  that  day  to 
this.  Regulation  was  at  its  height  in  England  from 
1870  to  1882.  In  the  former  year,  of  38,408  recruits 
inspected,  15.78  per  thousand  were  rejected  on  the  score 
of  syphilis ; the  number  of  recruits  increased  during  the 
period  in  question  to  45,423,  of  whom  in  the  last  year 
of  effective  regulation  10.72  per  thousand  were  rejected 
for  the  same  reason.  Is  this  improvement  attributable 
to  regulation?  Clearly  not;  for  the  rate  of  rejection 
has  declined  since  abolition  more  rapidly  than  at  any 
other  time:  in  1886,  77,991  were  examined  and  8.18  re- 
jected per  thousand;  in  1897,  59,986  were  examined  and 
3.47  rejected  per  thousand.43 

43  The  complete  statistics  taken  from  the  Army  Medical  Reports 
are  as  follows: 


Report  Recruits  rejected 

for  the  Total  number  of  For  Syphilis 

Year  Recruits  Inspected  Number  Per  1,000 

SLIGHT  REGULATION 

1866  20,410  338  16.56 

1867  .26,646  44O  16.51 

1868  23,543  303  12.88 

1869  17,749  291  16.40 

REGULATION  AT  ITS  HEIGHT 

1870  38,408  606  IS.78 

1871  36,212  593  16.38 

1872  28,390  445  I5.67 

1873  24,895  41 1 16.51 

1874  30,557  481  15-74 

1875  25,878  327  12.63 

1876  41,809  634  15-16 

1877  43,803  680  15.52 

1878  43,867  665  15.16 

1879  42,668  573  13.43 

1880  46,108  538  11.67 

1881  47,444  593  12.50 

1882  45,423  487  10.73 

REGULATION  SUSPENDED 

1883  59,436  583  9.8l 

1884  66,882  707  10.57 

1885  72,249  706  9.77 


372 


Abolition  and  Disease 

The  annual  admission  of  enlisted  men  to  hospitals  for 
venereal  diseases  tells  the  same  story.  In  1886  — the 
year  of  the  repeal,  this  reached  the  startling  total  of  267.1 
to  the  thousand;  by  1900,  the  figure  had  fallen  to  93.2; 
it  rose  to  125  in  1903,  and  fell  thereafter  steadily  to  66 
in  1909.44 

The  curve  (page  374)  45  shows  admissions,  per  thou- 
sand of  strength,  for  syphilis  (primary  and  secondary) 
in  the  army  at  home  and  in  India  for  the  years  1880- 
1908. 


Report 
for  the 

Total  number  of 

Recruits  rejected 
For  Syphilis 

Year 

Recruits  Inspected 

Number 

Per  1,000 

1886  

ABOLITION 

613 

8.18 

1887  

494 

8.10 

1888  

382 

7-77 

1889  

53.904 

358 

6.64 

1890  

351 

6.34 

1891  

300 

4.9 

1892  

318 

4.62 

1893  

314 

4.90 

1894  

315 

5-09 

189S  

194 

3-48 

1896  

202 

3-7i 

1897  

208 

3-47 

1898  

258 

3-88 

1899  

182 

2.67 

1900  

188 

2.22 

1901  

177 

2.31 

1902  

238 

2.72 

1903  

211 

3-03 

1904  

70,340 

178 

2-53 

1905  

156 

2.34 

1906  

170 

2.73 

1907  

59,393 

107 

1.80 

1908  

113 

1.84 

1909  

89 

1.77 

1910  

7 1 

1-55 

1911  

89 

1.85 

From  the  foregoing  table  one  must  not  infer  that  syphilis  in  the 
general  population  of  Great  Britain  is  rapidly  decreasing,  for  it  is 
impossible  to  say  whether  the  recruits  are  fairly  representative. 
See  Johnstone,  loc.  cit.,  p.  8. 

44  Complete  figures  are  as  follows  : See.  page  375. 

45  For  this  drawing  and  the  next  I am  indebted  to  Col.  Melville. 


373 


,uuu 

1908. 

374 


Abolition  and  Disease 


Finally,  a comparison  made  between  regulated  and 
non-regulated  military  stations  before  and  during  regula- 
tion and  after  abolition  exhibits  capricious  variations  in- 
dicating clearly  the  negative  outcome  of  regulation : 
(See  Fig.  IV,  p.  376.) 

Col.  Melville’s  analysis  is  as  follows : “ The  most  ob- 

vious fact  is  the  parallelism  of  the  curves.  Though  the 
curve  for  unprotected  stations  is  on  the  whole  higher, 
they  follow  the  same  general  trend.  They  both  fall  at 
first,  and  from  1875,  they  both  rise  steadily.  Regula- 
tion did  not  keep  disease  down  between  1876  and  1882 ; 
its  increase  in  unprotected  stations  was  proportionately 
somewhat  less  than  in  the  protected.  The  marked  in- 
crease in  the  protected  stations  after  relaxation  of  the 
rules  in  1882  only  continues  the  rise  originating  six 
years  previously.  Total  repeal  in  1886  is  followed  by 
a very  marked  fall  in  both  curves,  which,  however,  had 

Statistics  of  the  British  Army.  Admission  to  Hospital  for  Venereal 
Disease.  Ratio  per  1,000  of  Strength. 


Home 

Year 

Army 

1882  

1883  

1884 

1885  

275.7 

1886 

1887  

252.9 

1888 

224.5 

1889 

1890  

1891  

1974 

1892  

1893  

194.6 

1894 

189s 

173.5 

Home 

Year 

Army 

1896  

158.3 

1897  

1397 

1898 

132.7 

1899 

1900 

93-2 

1901  

105.4 

1902  

1903  

125.0 

1904 

1905  

90.5 

1906 

1907  

7i.9 

1908 

68.4 

1909 

375 


376 


Figure  IV. — Comparison  of  14  protected  with  14  unprotected  sta- 
tions in  respect  to  admissions  with  primary  venereal  sores. 


Abolition  and  Disease 


begun  in  1883  in  the  unprotected,  and  in  1884  in  the  pro- 
tected, stations.”  46 

German  army  statistics,  intensively  studied,  yield  a 
similarly  negative  result  as  to  benefits  of  regulation  in 
respect  to  the  incidence  of  venereal  disease.  Recurring 
to  Figure  II  (p.  370)  we  observe  that  the  extent  of  infec- 
tion decreased  continuously  from  1881  (as  in  all  other 
armies  except  the  Italian,  where  irregularities  are  con- 
siderable) up  to  1900,  despite  the  fact  that,  as  has  been 
shown,  methods  of  medical  examination  were  so  crude 
that  they  probably  caused  more  disease  than  they  isolated. 
The  Dutch  curve  has  also  consistently  dropped, — most 
of  all  so,  since  abolition.47  In  Stockholm,  the  statistics 
exhibit  the  same  decline,  coincidentally  with  the  gradual 
weakening  of  regulation.473. 

Closer  inspection  of  the  Prussian  statistics  brings  to 
light  the  one  significant  factor  that  we  have  already  re- 
marked in  a previous  correction,  viz.,  the  size  of  the  com- 
munity involved.  It  appears  that  during  a series  of  years 
the  percentage  of  venereally  infected  recruits  is  practically 
constant  at  7.7%,  despite  the  ups  and  downs  of  regula- 
tion meanwhile;  but  infection  in  different  army  corps 
shows  wide  discrepancies,  varying  from  four  per  cent,  in 
the  XI,  XIII,  and  XIV  army  corps  to  20.7  per  cent,  in 

46  From  C.  H.  Melville,  “ The  History  and  Epidemiology  of 
Syphilis  in  the  more  Important  Armies,”  in  A System  of  Syphilis 
by  D’Arcy  Power  and  J.  K.  Murphy  (London,  1910)  Vol.  VI,  pp. 
96^-98  (abridged). 

47  This  is  not  included  up  Figure  I.  It  is  shown,  however,  on 
“ Kurventafel  A ” along  with  all  other  foreign  and  American 
armies  and  navies  in  Josef  Urbach’s  Die  Geschlechtskrankheiten  und 
ihre  Verhiitung  im  k.  und  k.  He  ere,  etc.  (Wien  und  Leipzig,  1912) 
p.  13. 

47a  Reglementeringen  i Stockholm,  pp.  130-2. 


377 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

the  III,  which  is  stationed  in  and  about  Berlin.  The 
same  relation  holds  as  to  recruits.  In  the  years  1903-5, 
41.3  of  the  Berlin  recruits  were  venereally  infected;  30 
per  cent,  of  the  recruits  from  Hamburg  and  Altona, — 
yet  these  are  the  most  effectively  regulated  towns  in  the 
German  Empire.  I do  not  mean  to  imply  that  the 
amount  of  infection  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  exist- 
ence of  regulation,  but  rather  that  it  is  clear  that  regula- 
tion does  not  lessen  it.  The  really  important  factor  is 
the  size  of  the  town.  For  throughout  the  period  just 
mentioned  (1903-5)  the  extent  of  infection  among  re- 
cruits dwindled  with  the  size  of  the  places  from  which 
they  were  drawn;  regulation  had  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  it.  Berlin,  as  I have  said,  showed  an  infection 
of  41.3  per  cent.;  towns  of  more  than  100,000  inhabi- 
tants 15.8  per  cent.;  towns  between  50,000  and  100,000, 
10.2  per  cent.;  those  between  25,000  and  50,000,  8 per 
cent.;  smaller  towns  and  the  country  districts,  4.4  per 
cent.  The  size  of  the  garrison  has  a similar  effect.  A 
small  garrison  (less  than  400)  shows  venereal  infection 
of  1 1.9  per  cent,  in  1905-6;  a garrison  between  1,000  and 
3,000,  16.9  per  cent.;  a garrison  between  5,000  and  10,- 
000,  19.8  per  cent. ; garrisons  of  over  10,000,  26.6  per 
cent.  Regulation  can  have  had  no  influence  whatever 
on  these  figures ; and  this  is  all  the  more  certain  in  view 
of  the  fact,  that  though  regulation  has  tended  to  disinte- 
grate in  the  last  two  decades,  the  percentage  of  infection, 
everywhere  a matter  of  the  size  of  the  place  or  the  gar- 
rison, has  in  this  period,  everywhere  in  absolute  amount 
markedly  decreased : in  the  smallest  garrisons,  from  33.2 
per  cent,  in  1885  to  11.9  per  cent,  in  1905 ; in  the  largest, 

378 


Abolition  and  Disease 

from  36.8  per  cent,  in  the  former  year  to  26.6  in  the  lat- 
ter.48 

Evidence  more  direct,  though  of  limited  range  in  point 
of  time,  is  contributed  by  various  towns  that  have 
adopted  the  abolition  policy.  Of  these,  Christiania  is 
by  far  the  most  satisfactory.  It  has  the  longest  record 
and  the  most  satisfactory  statistics;  for  venereal  dis- 
eases have  been  notifiable  since  1876,  though  the  form 
of  notification  has  undergone  some  modification.  If 
diagnostic  means  have  not  been  too  defective  in  the  past, 
a stretch  of  something  like  20  years  is  represented  by 
the  abolition  experience  of  the  Norwegian  capital,  which 
has  increased  in  population  during  the  period  in  question 
from  something  below  80,000  to  almost  a quarter  of  a 
million. 

The  official  table  (see  p.  380)  gives  the  local  situation 
from  1876  to  1911,  inclusive.49 

In  the  period  covered  by  these  statistics,  the  popula- 
tion of  Christiania  has  trebled;  we  might,  therefore,  ex- 
pect a marked  rise  in  the  presence  of  venereal  disease. 
As  a matter  of  fact,  the  incidence  of  syphilis  was  never 
again  so  high  as  in  the  first  year ; with  certain  fluctuations, 

48  The  main  authority  consulted  in  the  above  discussion  is : 
Otto  von  Schjerning,  Sanitdtsstatistische  Betrachtungen  uber  Volk 
und  Heer  (Berlin,  1910)  pp.  59-67.  A general  discussion  of  condi- 
tions in  European  Armies  is  given  by  Col.  Melville,  loc.  cit.,  pp. 
58-72.  Urbach’s  book,  above  referred  to,  gives  the  most  recent  and 
complete  account  of  the  Austrian-Hungarian  army  and  navy  with 
frequent  references  to  other  nations.  None  of  these  authorities  are 
particularly  interested  in  the  question  of  regulation  versus  abolition, 
so  that  the  facts  are  stated  by  them  without  reference  to  their  bear- 
ing on  this  controversy.  M.  Augagneur  {loc.  cit.)  discusses  army 
statistics  with  close  reference  to  our  topic. 

49  Dr.  Yngvar  Ustvedt,  Sundhetsinspector,  Beretning  om  de  vener~ 
iske  sygdomme  i Kristiania,  1911  (1912)  pp.  6,  7. 


379 


Reported 
cases  of 
syphilis  as 
percentage 
of  popula- 
tion 

0.53 

0.31 

0.30 

0.34 

0.39 

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1.37 

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112  977 
116  801 
119  407 

122  036 
122  424 
124  155 
128  300 
130  790 

134  036 

135  615 
138  319 
143  347 
151  130 

156  535 
161  151 
167  588 
174  717 
182  856 

192  554 
203  337 
221  255 
226  423 
228  929 

224  909 

225  709 
223  649 
222  373 

226  774 

229  324 
231  687 
235  674 
239  511 
244  038 

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1548 

1842 

2258 

2424 

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1723 

1854 

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1889 

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1843 

1956 

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380 


Abolition  and  Disease 


it  fell,  despite  the  marked  increase  in  population,  from 
•53  Per  cent.  'm  to  .22  per  cent,  in  1911.  The  de- 
cline in  all  three  diseases  taken  together,  though  not 
quite  so  striking,  is  sufficiently  noteworthy  in  the  face 
of  general  conditions  that  might  account  for  a rise:  1.28 
per  cent,  in  1876,  .96  per  cent,  in  1911.  Abolition 
took  place  in  1887.  During  some  of  the  following  years 
a rise  is  observable,  explicable  in  several  ways : ( 1 ) It 

was  the  purpose  of  the  law  to  induce  disease,  hitherto 
hidden,  to  come  out  into  the  open.  The  breaking  of  the 
police  association,  the  prominence  given  to  the  free  dis- 
pensary, ought  to  have  brought  out  cases  that  under  the 
old  order  were  handled  secretly  and  thus  escaped  re- 
porting; a rise  in  the  number  recorded  might  mean  not 
more  fresh  cases,  but  merely  more  cases  under  proper 
treatment.  (2)  Coincidently  with  the  introduction  of 
the  new  law,  these  diseases  had  to  be  reported  daily,  in- 
stead of  monthly,  and  greater  accuracy  in  this  respect 
might  account  for  a rise  indicating  not  more  disease, 
but  more  complete  statistics. 

The  experience  of  Copenhagen  is  unfortunately  too 
brief  to  be  of  commanding  importance;  a proper  sys- 
tem of  notification  was  introduced  for  the  first  time 
in  July  1912.  Available  statistics,  obviously  very  incom- 
plete, make  the  following  showing : 50 


Soft 

Acquired 

Congenital 

Years  Gonorrhoea  Chancre 

Syphilis 

Syphilis 

Syphilis 

Total 

1907  .... 

.5,684 

728 

1,869 

39 

63 

8,383 

1908  

.6,320 

1,164 

2,349 

63 

61 

9,957 

1909  .... 

. 6,029 

1,034 

2,108 

57 

52 

9,280 

1910  

. 6,076 

848 

2,330 

39 

85 

9,378 

1911  

.6,500 

692 

2,543 

66 

87 

9,888 

60  They 

are  taken 

from  the  report  mentioned  in 

381 

the  next  note. 

Prostitution  in  Europe 

During  five  years  there  has  been  on  the  face  of  the 
figures  a rise  of  18  per  cent,  in  the  total  number  of  cases 
reported.  Does  this  indicate  wider  contamination  as  a 
result  of  abolition?  Let  us  consider.  During  the  same 
period  the  population  increased  from  426,540  to  462,161, 
i.  e.  8 per  cent.),  so  that  to  some  extent  at  least  the 
apparent  increase  is  relative,  not  absolute.  Moreover, 
the  entire  tendency,  here  as  in  Christiania,  has  been 
to  lay  hold  of  as  many  infected  persons  as  possible;  in 
other  words,  unless  more  cases  were  brought  to  light 
for  some  years  to  come,  the  dispensary  policy  would  be 
a failure.  Indeed,  in  the  early  years,  the  dispensary 
physicians  were  paid  per  patient,  in  order  to  enlist  their 
active  cooperation  in  ferreting  out  foci  of  infection. 

Graphic  representation  shows  that  abolition  has  done 
no  harm,  even  though  the  most  unfavorable  interpreta- 
tion be  placed  upon  the  figures.  The  rapid  decline  im- 
mediately prior  to  repeal  would  appear  to  indicate  that 
abolition  took  place  when  Copenhagen  was,  in  respect 
to  venereal  disease,  in  the  trough  of  the  wave.  Free 
dispensaries  brought  some  hidden  cases  to  light;  hence, 
a brief  rise, — a reaction  from  which  is  already  in  prog- 
ress, partly  explicable,  perhaps,  by  the  extinction  of  some 
active  foci  through  treatment. 

The  curves  (pp.  383,  384,  385)  show  the  course  of 
venereal  diseases  in  Copenhagen  on  the  basis  of  the  Re- 
ports of  the  Health  Department.51 

In  relation  to  population,  the  following  table  shows  the 
incidence  of  venereal  disease  per  10,000  inhabitants 

51  Aarsberetning  angaaende  Sundhedstil stand et  i Kjfbenhavn  for 
1910.  (Copenhagen,  1911)  p.  36.  The  figures  for  1911  above  given 
were  contributed  by  Stadslsege  Dr.  E.  M.  Hoff. 

382 


Figure  V. — Course  of  syphilis  at  Copenhagen. 


3§4 


Figure  VI. — Course  of  gonorrhoea  at  Copenhagen. 


385, 


Figure  VII. — Course  of  soft  chancre  at  Copenhagen. 


Prostitution  in  Europe 


since  1867.  Needless  to  repeat,  only  the  statistics  of 
more  recent  years  are  of  any  genuine  consequence : 52 


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58 

Dr.  Rudolf  Krefting,  of  Christiania,  has  plotted  out 
two  highly  interesting  curves  by  way  of  depicting  and 
comparing  the  course  of  events  in  Copenhagen  and 
Christiania  in  respect  to  syphilis.53  (See  Fig.  VIII,  p. 
3870 

Despite  considerable  variations,  the  dotted  line  shows, 
as  we  have  already  observed,  that  there  was  relatively 
to  population  less  syphilis  in  Christiania  in  1910  than 
in  1890;  that,  though  the  amount  of  disease  treated  in 
abolition  Christiania  was  in  the  years  immediately  suc- 
ceeding repeal  greater  than  the  amount  reported  in  Copen- 
hagen, conditions  rapidly  improved,  so  that  the  situation 
is  now  well  in  hand.  The  maximum  was  reached  al- 
most twenty  years  ago  (1895).  The  Copenhagen  curve 

52  Ibid.,  p.  37. 

63  From  “ Om  luesoverfrelse,”  ( Tidsskrift  for  den  Norske  laege~ 
forening.  Nr.  5 og  6,  1912). 


387 


Figure  VIII. — Copenhagen  and  Christiania  compared  in  respect  to 

syphilis. 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

continues  to  rise  until  1901,  when  it  falls  unaccountably, 
rises  on  repeal  of  regulation  and  shows  a declining  tend- 
ency as  the  new  system  gets  to  working  more  smoothly. 
In  any  event,  Copenhagen  with  control  and  with  an  im- 
perfect system  of  notification  actually  shows  almost  un- 
interruptedly more  syphilis  than  Christiania  without  con- 
trol and  with  a much  more  thorough  system  of  notifi- 
cation.54 That  abolition  alone  is  to  be  credited  with  the 
decline  or  with  the  difference  between  the  two  cities 
cannot  be  maintained;  for  similar  declines  — less  cred- 
ible, perhaps,  inasmuch  as  the  data  are  less  reliable  — 
are  observable  under  regulation  also.  A very  marked 
instance  I have  just  noted,  viz.,  the  decline  in  reported 
cases  of  syphilis  at  Copenhagen  between  1901  and  1905, 
— while  regulation  was  still  in  vogue.  That  abolition 
with  the  dispensary  system  treats  more  disease  than 
regulation  is  beyond  all  question;  that  it  treats  enough 
more  to  affect  sensibly  the  disease  curves  one  may  be- 
lieve, but  may  not  yet  hold  to  be  scientifically  demon- 
strated. But  this  is  not  essential,  for  unless  the  evi- 
dence is  clearly  in  its  favor,  regulation  falls  to  the 
ground.  As  to  this,  there  is  no  question  whatso- 
ever. The  medical  profession,  the  health  authorities,  the 
police  of  both  Christiania  and  Copenhagen  are  wellnigh 
unanimous  in  their  conviction  on  the  basis  of  experi- 
ence and  statistics  that  abolition  has  done  no  harm;  and 
if  abolition  has  done  no  harm,  assuredly  regulation  can 
have  done  no  good.55 

54  The  above  comparison  is  partly  based  on  Dr.  Krefting’s  dis- 
sertation above  cited,  and  on  a manuscript  essay . in^  French,  un- 
published as  yet  at  the  time  of  my  visit  to  Christiania,  which  Dr. 
Krefting  courteously  placed  at  my  disposal. 

65  I have  throughout  this  yolume  refrained  from  attaching  much 

388 


Abolition  and  Disease 


A single  bit  of  evidence  may  also  be  gleaned  from  the 
experience  qf  Zurich.  The  records  of  the  Policlinic 
(out-patient  department  or  dispensary)  and  the  can- 
tonal hospital  are  available  since  1894.  Bordells  were 
forbidden  in  1897.  The  population  of  the  city  was  at 
that  time  140,000;  by  1911,  it  had  risen  to  195,600. 
Yet  the  total  number  of  cases  treated  at  the  dispensary  fell 
from  483  in  the  former  year  to  392  in  the  latter.  The 
number  of  venereal  patients  admitted  to  the  cantonal 
hospital,  1 14  in  1897,  has  now  risen  to  251,  but  the  ratio 

importance  to  mere  opinions  as  to  the  results  of  experience  with 
either  of  the  policies  in  question.  It  is  indeed  amazing  to  observe 
what  definite  convictions  are  based  on  brief  or  one-sided  experi- 
ence or  on  hearsay  evidence,  and  this  is  true  of  abolitionists  and 
regulationists  alike.  Though  opinion  is  thus  of  little  weight,  a 
change  of  opinion  forced  by  the  failure  of  prophesied  ill  results  to 
materialize  may  be  not  without  significance;  and  of  such  change 
there  is  abundant  evidence  in  both  Christiania  and  Copenhagen. 
In  the  former,  as  late  as  1898,  a discussion  in  the  Norwegian  Medi- 
cal Society  (reported  in  Prostitution  i Kristiania,  1899)  showed  the 
existence  of  regulationists  in  the  medical  profession.  Their  views 
were  vigorously  combated  by  City  Physician  Bentzen  and  others 
who  proved  that  regulated  Norwegian  towns  were  liable  to  pre- 
cisely the  same  fluctuations  that  followed  abolition  at  Christiania 
(pp.  36-38).  By  the  time  of  my  visit  (fourteen  years  later)  the 
voice  of  the  regulationists  — so  I was  everywhere  assured  — had 
practically  become  silent  — a change  of  attitude  hardly  open  to  mis- 
construction. In  Copenhagen  the  issue  is  more  recent  and  more 
controversial;  but  the  trend  of  opinion  appears  to  be  in  the  same 
direction.  I was  assured  that  it  would  be  practically  impossible  to 
find  a physician  who  desired  a return  to  the  old  system ; Professor 
Ehlers,  a distinguished  specialist,  declared^  “ There  is  absolutely  no 
professional  sentiment  any  longer  in  favor  of  regulation;  the  sit- 
uation is  probably  better  and  most  certainly  no  worse”;  another 
physician  stated:  “Nothing  has  been  lost,  even  if  it  is  not  yet  easy 
to  prove  what  has  been  gained”;  Dr.  Hoff,  the  Health  Officer,  as- 
sured me  that  regulation  sentiment  had  entirely  died  out  among 
the  medical  profession.  But  the  best  proof  is  after  all  the  steady 
encroachment  of  abolition:  Copenhagen  would  not  have  imitated 
Christiania  had  abolition  aggravated  conditions  there;  now  Stock- 
holm is  about  to  follow  suit:  does  not  this  indicate  a growing  and 
spreading  disbelief  in  the  efficacy  of  regulation  and  a growing  con- 
fidence in  the  advantages  of  abolition? 

389 


Prostitution  in  Europe 


to  population  has  decreased.  These  facts  are  indicated 
on  Figures  IX  and  X. 


Population 

Patients 

l( 

30  2C 

0 3( 

)0  4( 

10  5C 

)0  6C 

10  700 

Year 

1 Q Q A 

124.000 

1034 

1895 

s)  J / 

i u sj.U  UU 
140.000 

453 

1896 

1897 

515 

1898 

631 

475 

1899 

153.000 

1900 

150.000 

441 

1901 

151.000 

435 

1902 

155.000 

40  1 

1903 

161.000 

35  1 

1904 

ififi  non 

497 

1905 

1 Ou.UUU 

171.000 

376 

1906 

175.000 

38  1 

1907 

179.000 

398 

1908 

1 Ap  non 

444 

1909 

ira  non 

426 

19  1 0 

195.000 

392 

191  1 

Figure  IX. — Venereal  diseases,  Zurich  Policlinic. 


Let  us  now  bring  together  the  results  of  the  two 
chapters  in  which  we  have  discussed  this  problem.  In 
the  first  place,  let  me  remind  the  reader  of  the  absurdity 
of  supposing  that  regulation  means  that  the  authorities 
are  alive  to  the  problem  of  venereal  disease  and  that  aboli- 
tion means  that  they  close  their  eyes  to  it.  Regulation 
means  simply  that  the  police  deal  with  a very  small  por- 
tion of  venereal  disease  ; on  the  Continent,  at  least,  aboli- 
tion means  that  the  health  authorities  are  energetically 
attempting  to  reach  more  and  more  of  it. 

390 


Abolition  and  Disease 


Figure  X. — Venereal  diseases,  Canton  hospital,  Zurich. 

In  the  second  place,  we  must  emphasize  the  fact  that 
venereal  disease  is  inevitably  attendant  upon  sexual 
promiscuity.  Venereal  disease  is  an  evil  in  itself  and 
deserves  to  be  combated  with  all  the  resources  and  fa- 
cilities known  to  science  and  to  sanitation;  but  so  long 
as  prostitution  exists,  venereal  disease  will  remain  se- 
rious and  widespread;  we  have  discovered  absolutely  no 
reason  — statistical  or  other  — to  believe  that  regula- 
tion at  all  reduces  its  ravages;  there  is,  however,  good 
reason  to  believe  that  the  bordell  and  the  medical  ex- 
amination contribute  to  its  aggravation  by  increasing 
miscellaneous  commerce  and  by  decreasing  resistance. 

39i 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  ground  — statistical  or 
other  — for  believing  that  abolition  increases  disease ; 
there  is  excellent  reason  for  believing  that  abolition,  plus 
a deliberately  planned  and  organized  dispensary  system, 
has  already  proved  a mitigating  factor  and  is  capable  of 
much  greater  usefulness  than  has  yet  been  anywhere 
realized. 

This  summary  still  leaves  on  our  hands  the  problem  of 
understanding  the  fluctuations  of  venereal  infection. 
But  in  this  respect,  venereal  disease  is  one  with  other  in- 
fections and  contagions.  All  alike  are  subject  to  unac- 
countable ups  and  downs.  We  know  as  yet  practically 
nothing  of  the  factors  which  determine  the  rise  and  fall 
of  infectious  disease  curves,  or  the  outbreak  and  the 
subsidence  of  epidemics.  Apart  from  any  prophylactic 
measures  yet  known  to  science,  such  scourges  as  syphilis 
and  gonorrhoea  wax  and  wane.  Throughout  the  world, 
there  is  some  evidence  to  suggest  that  aside  from  tem- 
porary disturbances  due  to  war,56  they  have  been  for  a 
decade  or  two  in  the  declining  stage;  whether  this  is 
temporary  or  permanent  we  have  absolutely  no  means  of 
telling;  experience  suggests  the  former,  but  time  alone 
will  tell. 

I would  not,  however,  convey  the  notion  that  all  fluctua- 
tions are  mysterious  and  spontaneous  and  that  therefore 
nothing  can  be  accomplished  by  intelligent  action.  The 
army  curves  are  an  argument  against  any  such  fatalistic 
view.  With  increased  keenness  of  military  competition, 
every  factor  conducive  to  efficiency  has  to  be  reckoned 

56  E.  g.,  the  Boer  War,  which  undoubtedly  accounts  for  the  rise 
in  the  English  army  curve  1900-1903.  See  Figure  II,  p.  370. 


392 


Abolition  and  Disease 


with;  the  outcome  of  war  would,  it  is  felt,  de- 
pend not  only  on  battleship  tonnage  and  the  paper 
strength  of  the  army,  but  on  the  health  of  the  crew  and 
of  the  enlisted  men;  their  physical  vigor  is  at  least  as 
important  as  smokeless  powder  and  a powerful  rifle.  Al- 
most simultaneously,  therefore,  the  war  authorities  of 
Europe  have  undertaken  to  compete  with  the  tavern  and 
the  wanton.  Games  are  cultivated,  places  of  recreation 
provided,  the  spirit  of  emulation  has  been  aroused;  and 
instruction  is  given, — the  enlisted  man  is  taught  that 
continence  is  possible  and  wholesome;  he  is  urged,  if 
he  has  indulged  himself,  to  employ  prophylactic  meas- 
ures;67 in  the  highly  probable  event  of  their  failure,  he 
is  to  have  prompt  recourse  to  the  surgeon.  A success- 
ful effort  to  bring  about  more  sparing  use  of  alcohol  has 
perhaps  done  more  than  anything  else  to  make  these  de- 
vices and  suggestions  fruitful. 

The  indisputable  improvement  that  intelligent  en- 
deavor has  thus  effected  in  all  European  armies  is  a 
strong  argument  in  behalf  of  applying  a similar  policy 
to  the  general  population.  I have  said  that  venereal  dis- 
ease is  an  evil  in  itself, — a serious  drain  on  the  efficiency 
of  the  body  politic.  That  nation  which  first  succeeds  in 
reducing  it  will  have  scored  heavily  on  its  competitors. 
The  German  Society  for  combating  venereal  disease58 

57  In  Germany,  slot-machines  were  at  one  time  set  up  in  bar- 
racks and  on  board  warships  from  which  for  a small  coin  pro- 
tective remedies  could  be  procured,  but  popular  objection  has  forced 
their  removal  on  the  ground  that  their  presence  suggested  de- 
bauch and  deceived  soldiers  and  sailors.  But  the  remedies  are  still 
easily  procurable;  of  their  value,  there  is  grave  doubt.  See  Mel- 
ville, loc.  cit.,  pp.  91-95;  von  Schjerning,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  66,  67. 

58  The  Society  was  founded  by  Dr.  Blaschko,  and  publishes  the 
valuable  journal  which  I have  freely  cited. 

393 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

is  the  most  vigorous  organ  in  Europe  engaged  in  the 
cultivation  and  dissemination  of  this  point  of  view. 
Waiving  consideration  of  other  aspects  of  the  problem 
of  prostitution,  for  the  time  being,  it  urges  that  the 
same  methods  be  employed  in  the  contest  with  venereal 
disease  that  are  invoked  against  other  scourges:  med- 
ical research  for  the  means  of  prevention,  isolation  and 
cure;  enlightenment  of  all  those  afflicted  or  liable  to  afflic- 
tion in  order  that  the  willing  intelligence  of  the  patient 
may  cooperate  with  the  rational  intent  of  the  community. 
Thus  tuberculosis,  measles,  small-pox,  cholera  and  other 
pests  have  been  attacked  with  some  measure  of  success. 
Venereal  disease  offers  indeed  peculiar  difficulties,  but 
they  are  difficulties  that  only  strengthen  the  argu- 
ment for  intelligence  and  resource  broadly  utilized. 
If  this  be  true,  the  situation  described  does  not 
call  for  regulation,  tending,  as  it  does,  to  concen- 
trate its  fire  upon  a few  foci,  and  to  cover  up  other 
sources  of  infection  so  that  they  fester  in  darkness,  but 
rather  for  the  more  liberal  and  enlightened  policy, 
which,  if  not  identical  with  abolition,  follows  naturally 
in  its  wake. 


394 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  OUTCOME  OF  EUROPEAN  EXPERIENCE 

If  the  preceding  pages  may  be  assumed  to  have  ex- 
hibited the  present  condition  of  prostitution  in  Europe, 
the  reader  need  not  be  long  detained  for  the  purpose  of 
summarizing  the  main  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  them. 
It  must  be  clear  that  prostitution  is  far  more  widespread 
than  superficial  appearances  indicate ; that  its  roots  strike 
deep,  socially  and  individually ; that  police  regulation  has 
proved  unnecessary,  in  so  far  as  the  keeping  of  order  is 
concerned,  and  positively  harmful  in  its  bearing  on  the 
problem  of  venereal  disease.  Further  elaboration  of 
these  points  would  involve  needless  iteration.  But  we 
may  well  ask  whether  European  experience  suggests  any 
broader  reflections  with  which  this  study  may  appropri- 
ately be  brought  to  a close. 

Whatever  one  may  hold  as  to  ultimate  dealings  with 
the  subject,  it  is  clear  that  prostitution  is  at  any  rate  a 
modifiable  phenomenon.  For  example,  no  matter  what 
conditions  exist  at  this  very  moment,  they  are  capable  of 
aggravation.  If  bordells  are  established  and  allowed  a 
free  hand  in  procuring  inmates  and  business,  if  a com- 
munity ceases  to  be  concerned  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
streets,  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  liquor  and  amusement 
traffic;  there  is  no  doubt  that  under  these  circumstances 
the  number  of  prostitutes  and  the  volume  of  business 

395 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

transacted  by  them  would  at  once  increase,  and  in  conses 
quence,  also  the  amount  of  waste  and  disease  traceable 
thereto. 

The  converse  of  the  proposition  is  equally  true.  If 
prostitution  and  its  evils  can  by  social  arrangements  be 
increased,  they  can  also  by  social  arrangements  be  les- 
sened. If  unhampered  exploitation  and  prominence  make 
matters  worse,  then  interference  with  exploitation  and 
prominence  makes  matters  better.  I am  not  suggest- 
ing that  such  interference  has  unlimited  possibilities. 
Making  every  allowance,  however,  I believe  that  the  stu- 
dent of  prostitution  in  Europe  is  warranted  in  declaring 
that,  with  the  suppression  of  bordells  and  of  the  white 
slave  traffic,  and  the  maintenance  of  improved  external 
order,  a substantial  amount  of  good  has  been  accom- 
plished, even  if  new  problems  have  simultaneously  de- 
veloped in  consequence  of  the  growth  of  cities  and  the  ac- 
cumulation of  wealth;  further,  it  may  safely  be  main- 
tained that  these  efforts  have  not  yet  reached  their  limit. 

What  are  we  fairly  justified  in  expecting  from  di- 
rectly repressive  action  on  the  part  of  the  community? 
Prostitution  is,  as  I endeavored  to  show  in  the  chapters 
on  demand  and  supply,  a phenomenon  arising  out  of  the 
complicated  interaction  of  personal  factors  and  social 
conditions.  Looked  at  from  this  point  of  view,  the  at- 
tempt to  stamp  it  out  completely  by  summary,  even  though 
persistent,  action,  cannot  be  hopefully  regarded.  The  in- 
strument which  a municipality  must  use  to  that  end  is  the 
police.  Now  the  police  is  an  instrument  which,  serving, 
as  it  does,  many  useful  purposes,  must  be  preserved  as 
nearly  intact  as  may  be.  We  have  seen  that  contact  with 

396 


The  Outcome  of  European  Experience 

prostitution  threatens  its  integrity  and  efficiency.  On  the 
police,  therefore,  no  more  can  be  laid  than  it  is  capable  of 
bearing.  Just  what  this  load  is  must  be  separately  deter- 
mined for  every  community  and,  in  large  cities,  for  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  same  community.  Where  the  general 
level  of  administration  and  discipline  is  high,  more  can  be 
safely  demanded  than  in  communities  in  which  the  level 
is  lower ; where  public  sentiment  is  active  and  definite,  the 
burden  may  be  further  increased;  where  local  organiza- 
tions observe,  complain  and  follow-up,  the  danger  of  a 
police  breakdown  is  still  further  diminished. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that,  even  amidst  favorable  gen- 
eral conditions,  the  very  nature  of  the  instrument  em- 
ployed involves,  under  the  complicated  conditions  of  mod- 
ern life,  limitations  against  which  one  soon  runs.  Police 
repression  can  be  directed  mainly  against  professional 
prostitution  and  its  exploiters.  Unquestionably  it  has  a : 
valuable  function  to  discharge  in  removing  stimulation 
and  reducing  suggestion,  as  also  in  minimizing  opportuni- 
ties for  demoralization.  But  in  so  far  as  the  prostitute 
herself  is  personally  concerned,  repression  becomes  opera- 
tive only  after  the  woman  has  been  wrecked.  It  penal- 
izes an  accomplished  fact.  Powerless  to  crush  this  fact 
out  of  existence,  powerless  for  the  most  part  to 
transform  the  fact,  sheer  repression  might  still  hope 
to  deter  the  beginner  by  its  forbidding  prospect ; but  un- 
fortunately, the  beginner  is  less  affected  by  the  penalties 
awaiting  her,  because  she  never  believes,  at  the  start,  that 
she  is  destined  to  end  in  the  mire.  If,  therefore,  pros- 
titutes are  manufactured  by  unschooled  human  nature 
and  imperfect  social  institutions,  they  cannot  in  the  mass 

397 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

be  stamped  out  by  brute  force;  they  must  be  prevented 
rather  than  suppressed, — prevented,  too,  on  both  sides, 
in  the  sense  that  the  sources  of  supply  must  be  closed  and 
the  demand  diverted  into  other  channels. 

Moreover,  repression,  in  order  to  realize  its  full  possi- 
bilities, requires  an  abundance  of  institutional  facilities 
such  as  now  nowhere  exist.  I have  repeatedly  adverted  to 
the  utter  futility  of  the  fines  and  short  term  sentences  hith- 
erto generally  imposed.  Repression,  successful  up  to  the 
limits  of  its  inherent  possibilities,  must  involve  the  en- 
deavor to  wean  the  professional  prostitute  from  one  way 
of  living  and  to  equip  her  for  another.  Reformatories, 
labor-colonies,  hospitals  and  similar  institutions  have, 
therefore,  to  be  made  adequate  to  the  load  which  an  ag- 
gressive policy  places  upon  them.  At  this  moment  no  city 
sustains  even  what  it  now  requires. 

It  is  a further  limitation  of  the  repressive  policy,  as 
ordinarily  conceived,  that  it  operates  almost  altogether 
upon  the  woman.  We  are  reminded  of  the  dual  nature 
of  prostitution.  It  involves  two  partners.  Imagine  every 
brothel  closed,  every  street-walker  incarcerated.  To  the 
extent  that  stimulation  and  suggestion  have  by  these 
measures  been  reduced,  demand  has  suffered  a check. 
But  a strong  demand  still  remains,  unaffected  by  re- 
pressive measures  directed  merely  against  dissolute 
women.  Certain  stimuli  have  been  removed;  otherwise 
appetite  is  left  where  it  was.  Its  gratification  is  impeded, 
— made  more  difficult  and  more  expensive.  But  these  are 
not  insuperable  obstacles  in  the  presence  of  that  volume 
of  supply  which,  if  inoffensive,  is  hardly  reached  by 
repressive  police  measures.  Indeed,  part  of  what  was 

398 


The  Outcome  of  European  Experience 

offensive  is  changed  in  form  rather  than  entirely  driven 
from  the  market. 

Repression  encounters  difficulty  at  still  another  point. 
Prostitution  is  all  too  frequently  a parasitic  phenomenon 
that  attaches  itself  to  other  phenomena,  sometimes  in- 
nocuous, sometimes  necessary,  sometimes  part  and  par- 
cel of  national  life  or  social  tradition.  Street-walking 
and  the  bordell  are  not  thus  intertwined  with  other  ac- 
tivities ; they  represent  prostitution  in  its  barest,  simplest, 
most  undisguised  form,  and  as  such  may  be,  with  com- 
parative ease,  successfully  attacked  by  police  methods. 
But  when  prostitution  insinuates  itself  into  the  ordinary 
life  of  the  community,  subtly,  inoffensively,  imperceptibly 
taking  advantage  of  the  forms  in  which  business  is  trans- 
acted, social  life  carried  on,  or  recreation  enjoyed, — then 
the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  effective  action  are  more 
serious.  The  cruder  forms  of  prostitution  are  easily 
reached ; — easily,  I say,  because,  even  though  the  task 
has  been  nowhere  achieved,  there  is,  in  the  nature 
of  the  case,  no  reason  why  a well-governed  community 
should  fail  to  achieve  it;  but  the  subtler  forms  present 
problems  so  different  in  kind  that  in  dealing  with  them 
agencies  and  influences  of  a totally  different  character 
must  be  employed. 

I do  not  mean  that  repression  will  have  accomplished 
little.  On  the  contrary,  important  good  is  achieved  at 
the  moment  and  still  more  in  the  long  run.  But  pros- 
titution as  a formidable  problem  will  still  remain.  Re- 
pression is,  on  the  whole,  what  physicians  call  sympto- 
matic treatment;  it  may  achieve  something  more  than 
alleviate  the  ravages,  but  it  does  not  cure  the  disease. 

399 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

It  does  not  necessarily  decrease  the  thing  in  the  same  ratio 
in  which  it  alters  appearances. 

What  would  conceivably  happen  in  a city  like  London 
if  the  police,  spurred  and  controlled  by  an  active  popular 
impulse,  accomplished  all  that  could  be  humanly  ex- 
pected ? Street- walking  of  a provocative  character  would 
disappear;  the  advertised  brothel  would  cease  to  exist; 
the  public  house  (saloon)  would  strictly  enforce  the  law 
against  the  harboring  of  prostitutes;  the  obvious  forms 
of  spurious  employment  would  be  dispersed, — rendered 
more  circumspect  and  much  less  readily  accessible ; pros- 
titutes would  disappear  from  the  lobby  and  promenade  of 
the  variety  theaters,  etc.  The  pimp,  the  exploiter,  the 
third-party  interest  would  be  severely  checked  and,  with 
that,  the  tropical  growth  due  to  them.  We  may  also  as- 
sume that  a vigorous  and  adequate  hygienic  policy  would 
lessen  the  volume  of  disease,  and  effect  quicker  and  com- 
pleter cures.  In  a word,  prostitution  as  an  offensive  and 
aggressive  activity  would  be  more  or  less  done  for;  and 
the  loss  through  disease  would  be  minimized. 

What  would  be  gained  ? The  inducement  to  enter  the 
life  or  to  persist  in  it  would  be  lessened;  the  total  volume 
of  business  and  the  volume  transacted  by  any  one  woman 
would  be  decreased;  the  financial  waste  would  be  less; 
the  amount  of  disease  disseminated  would  be  less;  the 
demoralization  of  the  woman  would  often  be  less  com- 
plete, less  overwhelming,  less  irretrievable:  surely,  very 
important  gains. 

Well  drawn,  well  codified,  well  executed  laws  could 
accomplish  this.  Any  civilized  society  utilizing  the  re- 
sources and  instrumentalities  that  every  such  society  has 

400 


The  Outcome  of  European  Experience 

within  its  reach,  can,  if  really  so  minded,  ultimately  re- 
duce prostitution  and  its  ravages  so  far  by  direct  action. 

It  is  well  worth  doing;  it  is,  humanly  speaking,  a pos- 
sible undertaking,  even  though,  I repeat,  nowhere  as  yet 
by  any  means  accomplished.  Let  us  not,  however,  deceive 
ourselves  into  thinking  that  such  a direct  frontal  attack 
absolves  us  from  effort  in  other  and  different  directions. 
Further  achievement  depends  upon  alterations  in  the  con- 
stitution of  society  and  its  component  parts.  In  so  far 
as  prostitution  is  the  outcome  of  ignorance,  laws  and 
police  are  powerless ; only  knowledge  will  aid.  In  so  far 
as  prostitution  is  the  outcome  of  mental  or  moral  de- 
fect, laws  and  police  are  powerless;  only  the  intelli- 
gent guardianship  of  the  state  will  avail.  In  so  far 
as  prostitution  is  the  outcome  of  natural  impulses  denied 
a legitimate  expression,  only  a rationalized  social  life 
will  really  forestall  it.  In  so  far  as  prostitution  is 
due  to  alcohol,  to  illegitimacy,  to  broken  homes,  to  bad 
homes,  to  low  wages,  to  wretched  industrial  conditions  — 
to  any  or  all  of  the  particular  phenomena  respecting 
which  the  modern  conscience  is  becoming  sensitive, — 
only  a transformation  wrought  by  education,  religion, 
science,  sanitation,  enlightened  and  far-reaching  states- 
manship can  effect  a cure.  Our  attitude  towards  pros- 
titution, in  so  far  as  these  factors  are  concerned,  can- 
not embody  itself  in  a special  remedial  or  repressive  pol- 
icy, for  in  this  sense  it  must  be  dealt  with  as  part  of 
the  larger  social  problems  with  vdiich  it  is  inextricably 
entangled.  Civilization  has  stripped  for  a life-and-death 
wrestle  with  tuberculosis,  alcohol  and  other  plagues.  It 
is  on  the  verge  of  a similar  struggle  with  the  crasser 

401 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

forms  of  commercialized  vice.  Sooner  or  later,  it  must 
fling  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  whole  horrible  thing.  This 
will  be  the  real  contest, — a contest  that  will  tax  the 
courage,  the  self-denial,  the  faith,  the  resources  of  hu- 
manity to  their  uttermost. 


402 


Appendices 


APPENDIX  I 


PARIS  REGULATIONS 1 

Duties  and  Prohibitions  Imposed  on  Public  Prostitutes. 

Public  prostitutes  are  required  to  report  at  the  Health 
Dispensary  for  medical  examination  at  least  once  a fort- 
night at  dates  that  will  be  fixed  for  each  case. 

They  are  ordered  to  show  their  sanitary  cards  whenever 
requested  to  do  so  by  police  officers  or  agents. 

They  may  not  walk  about  in  public  streets  before  the 
street  lanterns  have  been  lighted,  nor,  in  any  season  of  the 
year,  before  seven  o’clock  in  the  evening;  nor  may  they  re- 
main in  the  streets  after  midnight. 

There  must  be  nothing  about  their  deportment  or  their 
attire  that  attracts  attention  in  an  offensive  manner. 

They  are  expressly  forbidden  to  speak  to  minors  or  to 
men  accompanied  by  women  or  children,  or  to  entice  any- 
one in  a loud  voice  or  with  persistence. 

They  are  forbidden  to  loiter  in  the  streets,  to  gather  in 
groups,  to  walk  about  in  groups,  to  pass  the  same  points 
too  frequently,  as  they  go  up  and  down,  and  to  have  their 
“ pimps  ” walk  with  them  or  behind  them. 

They  are  not  permitted  to  be  in  the  vicinity  of  churches 
(Catholic  or  Protestant),  schools  and  lycees,  covered  ar- 
cades, boulevards,  the  Champs-Elysees,  the  railway  stations 
and  their  approaches,  and  the  public  parks. 

They  are  not  permitted  to  live  in  houses  in  which  there 
are  boarding-schools  or  day-schools. 

1 Translation  of  the  most  recent  Reglement  dated  October,  1878. 

405 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

They  are  likewise  not  permitted  to  share  their  lodgings 
with  a lover  or  with  another  prostitute. 

They  must  never  solicit  from  their  windows. 

Any  woman  violating  the  above  instructions,  or  resisting 
officers  of  public  authority,  or  giving  wrong  information  as 
to  her  address  or  name,  incurs  the  risk  of  certain  penalties, 
the  severity  of  which  is  in  accordance  with  the  seriousness 
of  the  offence. 

Important  Notice. — The  card  issued  to  prostitutes  at 
the  time  of  their  enrolment  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an 
authorization,  and  must  in  no  way  be  taken  as  an  encour- 
agement to  vice,  or  as  an  obstacle  to  decent  employment. 

The  card  enables  the  administration  to  determine  whether 
the  public  prostitutes  — in  their  own  interest  as  well  as  in 
the  interest  of  the  public  health  — are  reporting  regularly 
for  the  medical  examinations  which  are  provided  for  them 
as  long  as  they  continue  practising  prostitution. 

A woman  may  at  any  time  be  stricken  from  the  list  and 
have  her  card  recalled,  if  it  be  shown  that  she  no  longer 
draws  her  means  of  subsistence  from  prostitution. 

Furthermore,  the  necessary  confirmation  of  the  above  fact 
will  be  sought  with  reserve  and  discretion. 

Instructions  Governing  the  Various  Operations  of 
the  Morals  Service. 

i 

CLANDESTINE  PROSTITUTION 

§ I.  Searches  and  scrutinies  carried  on  in  private  houses 
in  furnished-room  houses,  and  in  cafes  and  saloons. 

The  inspectors  of  the  active  morals  service,  when  in- 
formed that  a certain  private  house  or  furnished-room  house 
is  being  secretly  used  as  a resort  for  prostitution,  will  im- 
mediately report  such  information  to  their  Officier  de  paix, 


Appendices 

who  will  draw  up  a statement  for  the  Chief  of  Municipal 
Police. 

The  Chief  of  Municipal  Police  will  cause  exact  and  pre- 
cise data  to  be  gathered,  which  will  be  reported  to  the 
Prefet  de  Police  by  the  Chief  of  the  1st  Division,  who,  if 
that  be  desirable,  will  advise  the  Prefet  to  issue  a search- 
warrant. 

This  warrant,  issued  in  accordance  with  article  10  of  the 
Law  of  July  22,  1791,  and  having  effect  at  any  hour  of  the 
day  or  night,  in  cases  of  public  notoriety,  shall  then  be 
transmitted  to  the  Chief  of  Municipal  Police,  together  with 
a note  giving  the  necessary  directions  to  assist  in  carrying 
it  out. 

The  inspectors  ordered  to  the  search  will  report  to  the 
Commissaire  of  police  of  the  quarter,  to  advise  him  of 
their  mission,  so  that  he  may  be  in  readiness  to  furnish  aid 
when  aid  shall  be  required. 

The  authorization  to  live  in  furnished  rooms,  granted  to 
prostitutes  who,  by  reason  of  their  age  or  their  infirmities, 
cannot  secure  places  in  brothels,  and  cannot  afford  to  live 
in  quarters  of  their  own,  has  no  other  purpose  than  to 
enable  them  to  find  a home.  Such  authorization  does  not 
exempt  them  from  the  consequences  of  the  offence  of  prac- 
tising prostitution  in  the  furnished  rooms  inhabited  by 
them. 

It  would  be  proper,  therefore,  to  arrest  women,  if,  in  the 
course  of  search  made  in  execution  of  such  a warrant, 
they  should  be  found  in  the  company  of  men  enticed  by 
them,  which  fact  would  furthermore  constitute  a charge 
against  the  keeper  of  the  house,  being  an  infraction  on  his 
part  of  article  5 of  the  Ordinance  of  November  6,  1778. 
But  such  arrests  should  not  be  made  if  the  women  are 
found  with  men  with  whom  they  regularly  share  those 
lodgings,  being  the  concubines  of  such  men,  a fact  which  it 

407 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

would  be  easy  to  establish  by  referring  to  the  list  on  the 
police  register. 

As  for  cafes,  saloons,  or  other  places  where  liquor  is 
sold,  and  in  which  clandestine  prostitution  is  encouraged, 
the  Commissaires  of  police  may  enter  such  places,  without 
a warrant,  up  to  the  closing  hour,  or  even  later,  if  such 
establishment  should  remain  open  in  violation  of  the  police 
ordinances. 

They  may  go  through  public  meeting  places,  if  necessary, 
in  order  to  ascertain  infractions  of  article  14  of  the  Or- 
dinance of  November  8,  1780. 

Inspectors  who,  in  the  course  of  their  watches,  may  ob- 
serve conditions  constituting  violations  of  the  above  nature, 
will  inform  the  Commissaire  of  police  of  the  quarter.1 

§ 2.  Girls  not  under  supervision. 

Inspectors  must  proceed  with  the  greatest  caution  in  the 
cases  of  girls  not  under  supervision,  whom  they  may  meet 
in  the  public  streets,  and  must  not  arrest  them  except  after 
a surveillance  resulting  in  the  observation  of  a number  of 
distinct  acts  of  soliciting. 

In  a public  place  commonly  known  to  be  a resort  for 
prostitution,  it  is  proper  to  arrest  a girl  not  under  super- 
vision, when  there  is  evidence  of  the  actual  act,  or  an  ad- 
mission on  the  part  of  the  girl  or  of  the  man  found  with 
her,  that  the  girl  has  solicited  him  to  the  act  of  debauchery. 

1 The  Cour  de  Cassation  has  rendered  several  decisions 
(June  30,  1838;  July  14,  1838;  March  30,  1839)  to  the  effect  that 
the  proces-verbaux  and  reports  of  the  inspectors  of  police  are  not 
in  themselves  sufficient,  in  the  absence  of  additional  proof,  to  estab- 
lish the  fact  that  the  infractions  have  occurred.  The  _ same  is 
true  of  a proces-verbal  drawn  up  by  a Commissaire  of  police,  from 
the  report  of  an  inspector  of  police,  unless  the  former  has  veri- 
fied the  facts  himself. 

But  these  legal  decisions  do  not  deprive  police  officers  of  the 
right  to  ascertain  infractions;  however,  their  reports  must  be  con- 
firmed either  by  the  admission  of  the  delinquents  that  the  facts 
are  as  stated,  or  by  such  methods  as  the  tribunal  may  consider  it 
proper  to  order. 


Appendices 

Whatever  may  be  the  circumstances  under  which  they 
have  been  arrested,  girls  not  under  supervision  must,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  procedure  outlined  in  the  circular  of 
March  24,  1837,  be  transferred  as  promptly  as  possible  to 
the  Bureau  of  the  Commissaire  of  police  of  the  quarter  in 
which  the  arrest  has  taken  place,  and  they  must  there  be 
interrogated  without  delay. 

Inspectors  will  always  adopt  an  attitude  towards  such 
women,  that  will  be  in  accordance  with  the  dignity  of  the  ad- 
ministration, except  when  legally  confirming  insults  or  as- 
saults made  on  them  by  such  women.  They  will  absolutely 
refrain  from  in  any  way  encouraging  the  women  to  solicit 
them. 

When  handing  over  a girl  not  under  supervision,  to  the 
discretion  of  a Commissaire  of  police,  inspectors  will  place 
in  the  hands  of  such  official,  unless  he  is  in  receipt  of  a com- 
plete declaration  from  them,  a detailed  report  of  the  acts 
of  which  the  girl  is  accused. 

After  having  handed  over  a girl  not  under  supervision,  to 
the  discretion  of  a Commissaire  of  police,  or  after  having 
aided  a Commissaire  of  police,  while  executing  a warrant, 
in  a public  place,  in  making  the  arrest  of  a girl  not  under 
supervision,  inspectors  will  at  once  ascertain  whether  such 
girl  is  really  domiciled  at  the  address  given  by  her,  and 
whether  she  is  known  by  the  persons  whose  servant  or  em- 
ployee she  states  she  has  been. 

They  will  carefully  gather  information  as  to  her  behavior 
and  means  of  subsistence,  and  will  report  all  facts  thus 
obtained,  in  a special  report  to  the  Chief  of  Municipal  Police, 
who  will  transmit  the  report  to  the  Chief  of  the  1st  Division. 

Inspectors  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  ob- 
ject of  searches  and  scrutinies  executed  in  pursuance  of  a 
warrant  is  to  get  at  women  or  girls  who  are  engaged  in 
public  prostitution,  and  not  at  those  whose  sole  offence  is 

409 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

an  act  of  private  debauchery,  which,  reprehensible  though 
it  may  be,  should  not  expose  the  woman  committing  such 
acts  to  the  consequences  that  should  be  borne  only  by  real 
prostitutes. 

For  instance,  the  mere  fact  that  a woman  is  found  in  a 
furnished-room  house,  or  in  a public  place,  in  the  very  act  of 
debauchery,  is  not  sufficient  evidence  to  show  that  the 
woman  is  guilty  of  prostitution,  if  she  has  regular  relations 
of  this  nature  with  the  man  found  with  her,  and  if  no  act 
of  soliciting  to  paid  debauchery  is  set  forth.  It  is  ex- 
pressly recommended,  that  when  women  are  found  sleep- 
ing alone,  even  in  places  that  have  a bad  reputation,  no  steps 
be  taken  to  arrest  them,  unless  the  circumstances  are  such 
as  to  convince  the  Commissaire  of  police  that  such  women 
have  been  engaged  in  an  act  of  prostitution.  The  Commis- 
saires  of  police  will  carefully,  and  without  delay,  investi- 
gate the  circumstances  causing  the  arrest  of  girls  not  under 
supervision;  after  having  heard  the  arrested  person,  they 
will  decide  whether  the  arrest  is  to  hold  good.  Should 
they  consider  it  desirable  to  take  immediate  steps  to  ascer- 
tain certain  facts,  they  may  have  a telegram  sent  for  that 
purpose  to  the  Chief  of  Municipal  Police,  by  the  Ofhcier 
de  paix  of  the  arrondissement. 

They  will  draw  up  a proces-verbal  of  the  interrogation 
through  which  they  have  put  the  persons  arrested.  They 
are  expressly  forbidden  to  make  use  of  printed  blanks  in 
conducting  this  interrogation. 

ii 

TOLERATED  PROSTITUTION. 

§ I.  Brothels. 

Inspectors  must  keep  tolerated  brothels  under  daily  sur- 
veillance, in  order  that  they  may  be  certain  that  no  infrac- 

4!0 


Appendices 

tions  of  public  order  and  decency  take  place  there,  and 
that  the  women  keeping  such  houses  comply  rigorously  with 
the  special  requirements  made  of  them,  as  well  as  with 
the  general  regulations  for  public  order,  notably  with  those 
concerning  the  apparel  and  the  number  of  girls  permitted 
to  go  out,  and  the  hours  of  leaving  and  returning. 

As  far  as  departures  and  returns  are  concerned,  which 
take  place  by  stealth  after  the  closing  hour,  such  acts  do 
not  constitute  a punishable  infraction  except  in  so  far  as 
they  may  be  the  cause  of  noises  of  a nature  to  disturb 
the  public  peace. 

Inspectors  will  hand  in  without  delay,  in  the  form  of  a 
special  report,  an  account  of  any  serious  or  extraordinary 
occurrence  taking  place  in  such  houses,  and  will  repeatedly 
warn  the  mistresses  of  such  houses  that  the  latter  must 
immediately  report  any  such  event  to  the  Commissaire  of 
police  of  their  quarter,  unless  they  have  an  opportunity, 
within  the  proper  hours,  to  notify  the  administrative  Bu- 
reau of  the  Officier  de  paix  assigned  to  the  morals  service. 

Inspectors  will  strictly  enforce  the  prohibition,  issued  to 
mistresses  of  houses,  forbidding  them  to  grant  admission 
to  students  of  the  lycees,  or  of  civil  and  military  schools, 
when  in  uniform,  or  to  any  young  men  under  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  will  report  any  infractions  of  this  rule. 

§ 2.  Enrolled  Women. 

Inspectors  will  see  to  it  that  all  the  provisions  of  the 
decree  of  September  i,  1842  are  carried  out. 

They  will  require  individual  prostitutes,  not  connected 
with  brothels,  when  met  with  in  inspections  of  furnished- 
room  houses  or  other  places,  or  in  the  course  of  the  inspec- 
tors’ street  duty,  to  show  their  cards,  in  order  that  the  in- 
spectors may  know  whether  the  prostitutes  are  prompt  in 
reporting  for  medical  examination,  and  in  order  that  those 
who  have  missed  examinations,  a list  of  whom  is  given  out 

41 1 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

twice  a month  by  the  administrative  bureau,  may  be  traced 
and  called  to  account.  When  a girl  makes  a statement  in 
explanation  of  her  not  having  the  card,  which  the  inspector 
has  reason  to  believe  is  untrue,  he  may  accompany  her  to 
her  home. 

Inspectors  who  are  ordered  to  bring  an  enrolled  woman 
to  the  administrative  office,  and  who  do  not  find  such  woman 
at  her  home,  will  do  no  more  than  report  that  fact.  They 
will  leave  no  word  as  to  the  object  of  their  call,  in  order 
that  the  woman  wanted  may  not  be  tempted  to  conceal 
her  whereabouts. 

§ 3.  j Disappearances  of  girls. 

The  search  for  girls  who  have  disappeared  must  be  car- 
ried on  with  the  greatest  possible  discretion. 

In  the  cases  of  girls  who  have  returned  to  their  families, 
or  who  have  taken  up  honest  work,  or  who  appear  to  be 
no  longer  deriving  their  means  of  livelihood  from  public 
prostitution,  inspectors  will  merely  report  the  present  cir- 
cumstances of  the  girls,  in  a special  report. 

Of  the  girls  who  have  disappeared,  only  such  are  to  be 
brought  to  the  administrative  Bureau,  as  have  been  found  in 
brothels,  or  in  the  homes  of  other  prostitutes,  or  in  fur- 
nished-room houses  or  private  houses,  when  none  of  the 
circumstances  given  above  as  exempting  them  from  arrest 
under  this  head,  is  applicable  to  them. 

hi 

TRANSFER  OF  ARRESTED  WOMEN  TO  THE  PREFECTURE. 

Prostitutes  arrested  by  inspectors  in  Paris  or  in  the  sub- 
urbs, who  cannot  immediately  be  taken  to  the  Prefecture  de 
Police,  will  be  kept  at  the  station-houses,  from  which  they 
will  be  sent  to  the  Depot. 


412 


Appendices 


IV 

f(On  Sodomy,  here  omitted.)^ 
v 

administrative  service. 

Before  any  other  action  is  taken,  the  Interrogating  Com- 
missaire,  Head  of  the  Morals  Bureau,  should  examine  all 
documents  relating  to  the  arrest  of  girls  not  under  super- 
vision, in  order  to  determine  in  what  cases  there  is  good 
reason  for  postponing  the  physical  examination. 

The  interrogation  of  girls  not  under  supervision  is  con- 
ducted by  the  Interrogating  Commissaire  himself ; he  reads 
to  the  girl  the  declaration  made  by  her,  and  has  her  sign 
the  proces-verbal  of  the  interrogation;  if  necessary,  he  in- 
terrogates the  officers. 

Whenever  it  may  be  necessary  to  enroll  a girl  not  under 
supervision,  who  is  of  age  and  who  refuses  to  submit  to 
the  sanitary  and  administrative  requirements,  or,  whenever 
it  may  be  necessary  to  enroll  a girl  who  is  not  of  age , 
the  case  will  be  decided  by  a commission  consisting  of  the 
Prefet  or  his  representative,  the  Chief  of  the  1st  Division, 
and  the  Interrogating  Commissaire,  instead  of,  as  hereto- 
fore, ending  with  a written  statement  of  the  facts.  This 
commission  will  interrogate  the  woman  arrested  as  well  as 
the  officers. 

It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  that  prostitutes,  at  the 
time  they  are  enrolled,  receive  a printed  notice  informing 
them  that  on  their  application  their  names  may  be  removed 
from  the  surveillance  lists,  when  some  verification  has  been 
made  of  the  fact  that  they  have  ceased  practising  prosti- 
tution. This  verification  should  be  made  with  discretion  and 
reserve. 

413 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

In  the  matter  of  disciplinary  punishments  imposed  on  en- 
rolled women,  the  procedure  will  continue  to  be  as  here- 
tofore, that  is,  punishments  will  be  assigned  by  the  Prefet, 
on  the  motion  of  the  Interrogating  Commissaire,  approved 
by  the  Head  of  the  1st  Division.  However,  in  any  case 
of  appeal  by  an  enrolled  woman  from  the  punishment  im- 
posed upon  her,  such  appeal  shall  be  referred  immediately 
to  a commission  consisting  of  the  Prefet  de  Police,  or  his 
representative,  and  two  Commissaires  of  Police  of  the  City 
of  Paris,  chosen  by  rotation  from  the  list  of  such  officials. 

Decisions  of  this  commission  will  be  made  after  hearing 
the  arrested  person  as  well  as  the  officers,  if  that  be  nec- 
essary. 

When  the  commission  is  not  presided  over  by  the  Prefet 
in  person,  its  decisions  must  be  ratified  by  him. 

To  make  certain  the  permanence  of  the  service,  the  sub- 
Chief  of  the  3rd  section  of  the  2nd  bureau  will  bear  the 
title  of  supplementary  Interrogating  Commissaire,  but  his 
services  will  not  be  called  on  except  when  the  titular  in- 
terrogating commissaire  is  prevented  from  being  present. 

VI 

medical;  service. 

Although  no  cases  have  as  yet  arisen  in  which  it  has 
been  necessary  to  use  force  in  making  the  physical  ex- 
amination, the  medical  service  is  recommended  to  refrain 
from  taking  such  steps  in  any  case  in  which  they  may  meet 
with  resistance. 

Such  an  occurrence  should  at  once  be  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Prefet. 


414 


APPENDIX  II 


BERLIN  REGULATIONS 1 

In  the  Police  District  of  Berlin,  a person  of  female  sex 
who  has  been  assigned,  because  of  her  practising  immor- 
ality as  a trade,  to  the  surveillance  of  the  Health  Police, 
is  subject  to  the  following  restrictions: 

1.  She  must  submit  to  medical  examination  as  to  her 
condition  of  health,  in  accordance  with  directions  given 
her. 

2.  She  must  appear  promptly,  at  the  time  set  for  her,  for 
medical  examination,  and  furthermore,  as  soon  as  she  ob- 
serves any  indication  of  illness  in  her  genitals,  or  in  her 
inguinal  glands,  she  must  report  at  once  to  the  Chief  of 
the  Morals  Police  and  state  her  trouble. 

3.  Medical  examinations  ordered  by  the  morals  police, 
to  take  place  in  her  own  home,  must  be  permitted  without 
resistance. 

4.  When  found  afflicted  with  a venereal  or  skin  disease, 
or  with  any  contagious  disease,  she  is  obliged  to  submit  to 
being  committed  to  such  hospital  as  may  be  designated  by 
the  authorities  and  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the 
treatment  until  she  is  cured.  Furthermore  she  must  punc- 
tually discharge  the  duties  imposed  upon  her  by  the  morals 
police  in  any  home  treatment  ordered  by  that  body,  or  in 
any  treatment  supplementary  to  hospital  care. 

If  found  infested  with  vermin,  she  must  submit  to  the 
treatment  as  officially  outlined. 

1 Translation  of  the  most  recent  regulations,  dated  Dec.  7,  1911. 

415 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

In  the  hospital  she  must  comply  with  the  orders  of  phy- 
sicians and  officials,  as  well  as  with  the  rules  of  the  house ; 
in  case  an  absence  has  been  allowed,  she  must  report 
promptly  on  the  expiration  of  the  term  granted. 

5.  She  is  not  permitted  to  lounge  about,  in  an  offensive 
manner,  in  the  streets  or  squares  of  the  city,  to  entice  men 
to  lechery  by  addressing  them,  or  to  appear  in  the  company 
of  a person  known  by  her  to  be  under  the  surveillance 
of  the  morals  police,  or  known  to  her  as  a pimp. 

She  is  not  permitted  to  stand  or  sit  in  doorways  or  en- 
trance-gates. 

She  must  comply  absolutely  with  the  instructions  of 
the  criminal  officers  who  display  the  proper  badges,  which 
instructions  are  given  for  the  maintenance  of  public  order 
and  public  decency.  This  does  not  touch  upon  the  rights 
of  uniformed  officers  of  supervision. 

6.  Except  for  very  urgent  reasons,  she  must  not  enter 
the  following  streets  or  places: 

Lustgarten,  Tiergarten,  including  Konigsplatz,  Fried- 
richshain,  Humboldthain,  Victoriapark,  Unter  den  Linden, 
Friedrichstrasse,  Belle-Alliance-Platz,  Wilhelmstrasse,  Pots- 
damerstrasse,  Bulowstrasse  from  Zietenstrasse  to  Yorck- 
strasse,  Linkstrasse,  Liitzowstrasse,  Potsdamerplatz,  etc. 

7.  She  is  not  permitted  to  loiter  in  the  vicinity  of  churches, 
schools,  higher  institutions  of  learning,  buildings  of  the 
Royal  Government  or  other  public  buildings,  especially  mili- 
tary barracks.  She  must  not  visit  theaters,  circuses,  or  ex- 
hibitions, or  the  concert  gardens  connected  with  them,  the 
Zoological  Gardens,  the  Museums,  the  railway  stations  (un- 
less it  be  to  purchase  a ticket  for  railway  passage),  or, 
finally,  any  places  that  may  be  named  in  later  orders  of 
the  police  authorities. 

8.  In  public  meeting  places  she  must  not  attract  undue 
attention  to  herself. 

416 


Appendices 

9.  She  may  not  enter  into  any  manner  of  relation  with 
male  or  female  persons  under  21  years  of  age,  and,  particu- 
larly, must  not  engage  such  persons  as  servants. 

10.  She  must  guard  carefully  against  permitting  the  fact 
of  her  living  in  a certain  house  from  becoming  the  occasion 
of  any  offence  or  disturbance,  either  in  the  house  itself 
or  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Failing  to  prevent  such 
offence,  and  having  once  been  warned  without  effect, 
she  must  leave  the  house  within  the  time  indicated  by 
the  morals  police  when  issuing  the  order  of  removal  to 
her. 

11.  At  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night,  she  must  grant 
immediate  admission  to  the  police  officer  who  calls  in  order 
to  inspect  her  dwelling,  or  procure  such  admission  for  him, 
and  give  as  much  information  as  she  may  possess  concern- 
ing persons  found  in  her  rooms. 

12.  If  she  is  found  in  any  resort  known  to  the  police  as 
a place  where  prostitutes  congregate,  and  if  complaints  have 
been  made  concerning  irregularities  at  that  place,  she  may 
be  ordered  by  the  morals  police  to  refrain  from  entering 
such  place. 

13.  She  must  not  appear  at  the  windows  of  her  own 
dwelling,  or  of  any  other  dwelling,  in  any  manner  that  may 
give  offence. 

14.  When  asked,  she  must  truthfully  give  the  address 
of  her  home.  She  must  personally  report  every  change 
of  address,  at  the  registry  of  the  morals  police,  not  later 
than  the  next  prescribed  medical  examination.  In  written 
petitions  to  the  morals  police,  her  present  address  must  al- 
ways be  given  in  full. 

15.  She  must  not  have  her  abode  in  the  vicinity  of 
churches,  schools,  or  higher  institutions  of  learning,  build- 
ings of  the  Royal  Government,  or  other  public  buildings, 
especially  military  barracks,  nor  must  she  have  her  abode 

417 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

on  the  streets  and  squares  to  which  access  is  denied  her 
in  Paragraph  6 of  these  regulations.  As  soon  as  her  oc- 
cupation of  such  dwelling  as  may  be  prohibited  by  this 
paragraph  (15)  is  discovered,  it  is  her  duty  to  give  up 
such  dwelling,  on  the  order  of  the  morals  police,  within 
the  period  indicated  by  that  authority. 

16.  She  is  not  permitted  to  grant  a lodging  to  her  pimp 
in  her  own  dwelling. 

17.  She  must  keep  her  control-book,  and  the  identification 
card  issued  to  her  at  dismissal,  in  intact  condition,  until 
they  are  handed  over  to  the  proper  person;  she  must  not 
leave  either  the  identification  card  or  the  control-book  in 
the  keeping  of  other  prostitutes  or  of  any  other  persons 
not  having  any  right  to  receive  such  documents. 

18.  When  in  the  offices  of  the  morals  police,  she  must 
conduct  herself  quietly  and  decently,  and  comply  absolutely 
with  the  instructions  of  the  supervising  staff  and  the  phy- 
sicians. 

19.  In  accordance  with  § 361  sec.  6 and  § 362  of  the 
Penal  Code  for  the  German  Empire,  infractions  of  these 
rules  are  punished  by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  6 
weeks;  the  sentence  may  also  provide  that  the  condemned, 
after  paying  this  penalty,  is  to  be  handed  over  to  the  State 
Police  Department  (Landespolizeibehorde),  which  body  will 
have  the  discretion  of  committing  the  discharged  prisoner  to 
a workhouse,  or  a protectory,  or  house  of  correction,  or  other 
asylum,  or  of  assigning  her  to  labor  of  public  utility,  for  a 
period  not  exceeding  2 years. 

When  proof  is  furnished  of  an  honorable  moral  deport- 
ment and  of  the  exercise  of  a respectable  calling,  as  well 
as  in  cases  of  marriage,  surveillance  by  the  morals  police 
will  be  discontinued  on  application. 

All  persons  of  female  sex  who  are  under  the  surveillance 
of  the  Berlin  Morals  Police,  are  subject  to  the  above  reg- 

418 


Appendices 

illations,  even  though  they  may  actually  reside  in  one  of  the 
following  districts: 

Treptow,  Reinickendorf,  Tegel,  Weissensee,  Pankow, 
Tempelhof,  Britz,  Friedenau,  Schmargendorf. 

Persons  of  female  sex  living  in  Charlottenburg,  Schone- 
berg,  Wilmersdorf,  Rixdorf,  Lichtenberg,  Friedrichsberg, 
Stralau,  or  Boxhagen-Rummelsburg,  but  subject  to  the 
morals  police,  not  of  those  localities,  but  of  Berlin,  are 
likewise  required  to  observe  these  regulations.  They  must 
particularly  report  at  the  Berlin  Morals  Police  Office,  on 
the  days  and  at  the  hours  set  for  them,  until  such  time  as 
they  may  be  assigned  to  surveillance  by  the  morals  police 
of  their  own  community,  and  made  subject  to  medical  ex- 
aminations in  such  community. 

These  regulations  go  into  effect  on  February  % 1912. 

(A  printed  circular  as  to  the  nature  of  various  venereal 
diseases,  and  the  precautions  to  be  observed,  is  also  given 
to  every  inscribed  woman.) 


419 


APPENDIX  III 


HAMBURG  REGULATIONS,  (a)  1 

i 

PRECAUTIONS  AGAINST  INFECTION  WITH  VENEREAL  DISEASE. 

(Directions  to  inscribed  women;  omitted  here.)' 

II 

INFORMATION  AS  TO  THE  MANNER  OF  FILING  CERTAIN  COM- 
PLAINTS AND  AS  TO  HOUSES  OF  REFUGE. 

Should  a keeper  of  furnished  rooms  attempt  to  prevent 
the  departure  of  a controlled  girl,  or  retain  possession  of  her 
effects,  or  make  any  claim  for  payments  of  whatever  na- 
ture (such  as  repayment  of  money  advanced,  or  for  ar- 
ticles of  clothing  furnished  by  him),  the  girl,  if  not  in  a 
position  to  file  complaint  at  the  office  of  the  morals  police, 
should,  on  the  occasion  of  her  next  medical  examination, 
apply  to  the  officers  of  the  morals  police,  so  that  an  inves- 
tigation may  be  made. 

The  officers  are  also  ready  to  give  the  girls  information 
concerning  Houses  of  Refuge  where  they  may  obtain  shel- 
ter pending  their  return  to  a decent  mode  of  life. 

hi 

POLICE  REGULATIONS  FOR  WOMEN  UNDER  STRINGENT  SUPER- 
VISION OF  THE  MORALS  POLICE. 

§ I.  After  being  assigned  to  stringent  police  supervision, 
women  so  assigned  will  submit  at  once  to  examination  by 

1 Translation  of  most  recent  regulations,  dated  September  I,  1909. 

420 


Appendices 

the  head  Police  Physician  or  his  representative,  and,  there- 
after, to  regular  examination,  twice  a week,  by  the  Medical 
Inspector  appointed  by  the  Police  Department,  at  the  place 
ordered  by  the  Police  Department,  and  at  the  time  set  by 
the  Police  Department.  If,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Police 
Department,  additional  examinations  are  also  necessary,  the 
women  will  submit  to  them  also,  and  will  report  promptly 
at  the  time  and  place  indicated  for  that  purpose. 

§ 2.  They  must  immediately  report  to  the  Police  De- 
partment any  symptoms  of  disease  which  they  may  have 
observed  on  their  persons.  Such  immediate  report  may  be 
omitted  only  when  the  regular  examination  of  the  medical 
inspector  is  to  take  place  later  in  the  day  on  which  the 
symptom  has  been  observed. 

§ 3.  At  all  examinations  they  must  present  themselves  in 
clean  clothing  and  in  a condition  of  sobriety  and  bodily 
cleanliness. 

§ 4.  They  must  unhesitatingly  comply  with  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  medical  examiners. 

§ 5.  If  the  physician  orders  hospital  treatment,  they  are 
obliged  to  submit  to  being  transferred  to  such  hospital  as 
may  be  appointed  by  the  authorities.  There  they  must  re- 
main until  the  physician  orders  their  discharge.  During 
their  detention  at  the  hospital  they  must  comply  with  the 
instructions  of  the  physicians  and  officers  of  the  institution, 
as  well  as  the  directions  of  the  nursing  staff,  conduct  them- 
selves in  an  orderly  and  modest  manner  and  observe  the 
rules  of  order.  It  is  forbidden  to  bring  flowers,  books, 
foodstuffs,  beverages,  or  tobacco,  to  the  hospital,  without  the 
permission  of  the  physician,  or  to  receive  or  utilize  such 
articles  at  the  hospital  without  such  permission.  It  is 
strictly  forbidden  to  make  use  of  any  apparatus,  instru- 
ment, bandage,  chemical,  or  medicament,  on  one’s  own 
authority.  Temporary  absence  from  the  hospital  is  only 

421 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

permitted  with  the  approval  of  medical  and  police  author- 
ity. 

§ 6.  Within  24  hours  they  must  personally  report  any 
engagement  of,  or  change  of  residence,  at  the  office  of  the 
morals  police  (City  Hall,  3d  Story,  Room  129),  between 
the  hours  of  9 A.  m.  and  2 p.  m.,  in  addition  to  discharging 
any  formalities  as  to  reports  of  residence  that  may  be  re- 
quired of  all  the  members  of  the  population.  When  about 
to  leave  Hamburg,  permanently  or  temporarily,  they  must 
likewise  personally  report  their  departure  at  the  same  office, 
before  11  a.  m.  Within  24  hours  after  returning  to  Ham- 
burg, they  must  personally  report  that  fact  at  the  office  of 
the  morals  police. 

§ 7.  They  must  immediately  grant  admission  to  the 
police  officer  who  calls  in  order  to  inspect  their  dwellings. 

§ 8.  They  must  comply  at  once  and  without  fail  with  all 
instructions  of  the  police  issued  to  them  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  peace  and  order,  as  well  as  for  the  administrative 
purposes  of  the  morals  police,  without  thereby  forfeiting 
their  right  to  lodge  a subsequent  protest. 

§ 9.  They  must  likewise  comply  with  any  commands  or 
prohibitions  of  the  police,  other  than  those  enumerated  in 
these  regulations,  but  issued  in  the  interests  of  the  admin- 
istration of  the  morals  police. 

§ 10.  They  are  not  permitted : 

1.  To  live  or  spend  the  night  in  any  houses  other  than 

those  approved  of  by  the  morals  police  for  the 
use  of  such  women,  to  consort  with  men  in  other 
than  the  approved  houses,  or  to  wander  about 
homeless,  as  vagrants, 

2.  To  have  minors  in  their  homes,  take  in  other  persons 

as  boarders,  or  keep  female  servants  under  25 
years  of  age, 

3.  To  grant  access  to  their  dwellings,  not  to  mention 

422 


Appendices 

the  granting  of  sexual  intercourse,  to  persons  who 
are  minors, 

4.  To  appear  visibly  at  the  window  or  front  door  of 

the  house  they  live  in  or  of  any  other  house,  or 
to  attempt  to  attract  men  by  tapping,  knocking, 
calling,  or  in  any  other  manner, 

5.  To  accost  men  in  the  street  or  in  other  places  ac- 

cessible to  the  general  public,  to  entice  them, 
either  by  means  of  beckoning  or  of  other  gestures, 
or  to  molest  them  in  any  manner, 

6.  To  appear  in  public  in  any  manner  that  may  offend 

decency,  or  to  appear  in  striking  apparel, 

7.  To  spend  the  hours  between  11  p.  m.  and  6 a.  m.  in 

any  other  place  than  in  their  homes, 

8.  To  frequent  the  following  streets  and  places : Alter 

Jungfernstieg,  Neuer  Jungfernstieg,  Alsterdamm, 
Neuerwall,  Alterwall,  Reesendamm,  Rathaus- 
markt,  Burstah,  Adolphsplatz,  Grosse,  Johannis- 
strasse,  Monckebergstrasse,  Steindamm,  Reeper- 
bahn,  Spielbudenplatz,  Dammthorstrasse,  Har- 
vestehuderweg,  An  der  schonen  Aussicht, 
Schwanenwik,  An  der  Alster,  and  the  Wallan- 
lagen, 

9.  To  visit  the  following  institutions,  theaters,  and 

grounds,  or  the  parts  thereof  indicated:  Stadt- 

theater,  Thaliatheater,  Deutsches  Schauspielhaus, 
Hansatheater,  the  box  seats  and  orchestra  stalls 
of  the  Carl  Schultze  Theater  and  of  the  Ham- 
burger Operettentheater,  seats  on  the  first  level 
of  the  Neues  Operettentheater,  the  Museums,  the 
Zoological  and  Botanical  Gardens,  the  Velodrom, 
any  seats  or  stands  at  the  Races  except  second 
balcony  or  standing  room,  boxes,  balcony  and 
stalls  at  the  circuses,  functions  under  the  auspices 
423 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

of  the  Allgemeiner  Alster  Club,  particularly  re- 
gattas, public  music  halls  and  public  dance  halls 
(except  those  at  No.  25  Neusitadterstrasse  and 
No.  10  Mohlenhofstrasse), 

10.  To  enter  any  saloons,  restaurants,  cafes,  concert 

halls  and  music  halls  in  the  City  of  Hamburg  or 
in  the  following  suburbs,  united  with  the  City  by 
the  Law  of  June  22,  1894:  St.  Pauli,  Eimsbiittel, 
Roterbaum,  etc. 

11.  To  ride  in  open  carriages, 

12.  To  make  use  of  any  apartments  in  the  bath-houses 

of  this  city,  other  than  those  reserved  for  the  use 
of  individual  bathers,  and  especially,  to  make  use 
of  the  swimming-pools  of  such  establishments, 

13.  To  employ,  or  permit  others  to  practise  for  them, 

any  device  or  process  calculated  to  deceive  the 
medical  inspectors, 

14.  To  support  a pimp  or  visit  the  dwellings  of  such,  or 

to  receive  pimps  in  their  own  homes. 

§ 11.  Any  woman  under  supervision,  who  offers  rea- 
sonable assurance  that  she  has  completely  abandoned  vice 
as  a livelihood,  and  is  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  a legitimate 
calling,  may  be  provisionally  liberated,  either  wholly  or  in 
part,  from  the  necessity  of  observing  the  regulations  of  the 
morals  police,  and,  in  case  her  conduct  within  a certain 
period,  the  length  of  which  is  to  be  designated  for  each 
special  case,  offers  no  reason  to  suppose  that  she  will  con- 
tinue her  practice  of  the  vicious  trade,  the  surveillance  to 
which  she  is  subject  will  be  finally  discontinued. 

§ 12.  In  accordance  with  § 361  sec.  6 and  § 362  of  the 
Penal  Code,  infractions  of  these  regulations  are  punished 
by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  6 weeks  and  commis- 
sion to  the  State  Police  Department  (Landespolizeibehorde), 
for  detention  in  a workhouse  for  not  more  than  2 years. 

424 


Appendices 


HAMBURG  REGULATIONS.  (6) 

POLICE  REGULATIONS  FOR  WOMEN  UNDER  LIMITED  SUPER- 
VISION OF  THE  MORALS  POLICE. 

§ I.  After  being  assigned  to  limited  police  supervision, 
women  so  assigned  will  submit  at  once  to  examination 
by  the  head  Police  Physician  or  his  representative,  and  then 
to  the  regular  medical  examinations  that  will  be  set  by  the 
Police  Department. 

§ 2.  They  must  immediately  report  to  the  Police  Depart- 
ment any  symptom  of  disease  which  they  may  have  observed 
on  their  persons.  Such  immediate  report  may  be  omitted 
only  when  the  regular  examination  by  the  medical  inspector 
is  to  take  place  later  in  the  day  on  which  the  symptom  has 
been  observed. 

§ 3.  At  all  examinations  they  must  present  themselves 
in  clean  clothing  and  in  a condition  of  sobriety  and  bodily 
cleanliness. 

§ 4.  They  must  unhesitatingly  comply  with  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  medical  examiners. 

§ 5.  If  the  physician  orders  hospital  treatment,  they  are 
obliged  to  submit  to  being  transferred  to  such  hospital  as 
may  be  appointed  by  the  authorities.  There  they  must  re- 
main until  the  physician  orders  their  discharge.  During 
their  detention  at  the  hospital  they  must  comply  with  the 
instructions  of  the  physicians  and  officers  of  the  institution, 
as  well  as  with  the  directions  of  the  nursing  staff,  conduct 
themselves  in  an  orderly  and  modest  manner  and  observe 
the  rules  of  order.  It  is  forbidden  to  bring  flowers,  books, 
foodstuffs,  beverages,  or  tobacco,  to  the  hospital,  without 
the  permission  of  the  physician,  or  to  receive  or  utilize 
such  articles  at  the  hospital,  without  such  permission.  It 
is  strictly  forbidden  to  make  use  of  any  apparatus,  instru- 

425 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

ment,  bandage,  chemical,  or  medicament,  on  one’s  own  au- 
thority. Temporary  absence  from  the  hospital  is  only 
permitted  with  the  approval  of  medical  and  police  au- 
thority. 

§ 6.  Within  24  hours  they  must  personally  report  any 
engagement  of  or  change  of  residence  at  the  office  of  the 
morals  police  (City  Hall,  3d  Story,  Room  128),  between 
the  hours  of  9 a.  m.  and  8 p.  mv  in  addition  to  discharging 
any  formalities  as  to  reports  of  residence  that  may  be  re- 
quired of  all  the  members  of  the  population.  When  about 
to  leave  Hamburg,  permanently  or  temporarily,  they  must 
likewise  personally  report  their  departure  at  the  same  office, 
before  11  a.  m.  Within  24  hours  after  returning  to  Ham- 
burg they  must  personally  report  that  fact  at  the  office 
of  the  morals  police. 

§ 7.  They  must  immediately  grant  admission  to  the 
police  officer  who  calls  in  order  to  inspect  their  dwell- 
ings. 

§ 8.  They  must  comply  at  once  and  without  fail  with 
all  instructions  of  the  police  issued  to  them  for  the  preser- 
vation of  peace  and  order,  as  well  as  for  the  administrative 
purposes  of  the  morals  police,  without  thereby  forfeiting 
their  right  to  lodge  a subsequent  protest. 

§ 9.  They  must  likewise  comply  with  any  commands  or 
prohibitions  of  the  police,  other  than  those  enumerated  in 
these  regulations,  but  issued  in  the  interests  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  morals  police. 

§ 10.  They  are  not  permitted: 

1.  To  live  in  a house  which  the  police  authorities  have 

declared  to  be  unsuitable  for  them,  to  spend  the 
night  with  men  or  consort  with  men  in  any  other 
house  than  their  own  dwelling,  or  to  wander 
about  homeless,  as  vagrants, 

2.  To  take  in  another  person  as  a boarder,  to  have. 

426 


Appendices 

any  minor  children  (their  own  or  those  of  others) 
in  their  rooms,  or  to  keep  a female  servant  who 
is  under  25  years  of  age, 

3.  To  grant  access  to  their  dwellings,  not  to  mention 

the  granting  of  sexual  intercourse,  to  persons  who 
are  minors, 

4.  To  appear  visibly  at  the  window  or  front  door  of 

the  house  they  live  in  or  of  any  other  house,  or  to 
attempt  to  attract  men  by  tapping,  knocking,  call- 
ing, or  in  any  other  manner, 

5.  To  accost  men  in  the  streets  or  in  other  places  ac- 

cessible to  the  general  public,  to  entice  them, 
either  by  means  of  beckoning  or  of  other  gestures, 
or  to  molest  them  in  any  manner, 

6.  To  appear  in  public  in  any  manner  that  may  offend 

decency,  or  to  appear  in  striking  apparel, 

7.  To  spend  the  hours  between  11  p.  m.  and  6 a.  m.  in 

any  other  place  than  in  their  homes, 

8.  To  frequent  the  following  streets  and  places:  Al- 

ter Jungfernstieg,  Neuer  Jungfernstieg,  Alster- 
damm,  etc., 

9.  To  visit  the  following  theaters,  institutions,  and 

grounds,  or  the  parts  thereof  indicated:  Stadt- 

theater,  Thaliatheater,  Deutsches  Schauspielhaus, 
Hansatheater,  the  box  seats  and  orchestra  stalls 
of  the  Carl  Schultze  Theater,  seats  on  the  first 
level  of  the  Neues  Operettentheater,  the  Muse- 
ums, the  Zoological  and  Botanical  Gardens,  the 
Velodrom,  any  seats  or  stands  at  the  Races  ex- 
cept second  balcony  and  standing  room,  boxes, 
balcony  and  stalls  at  the  Circuses,  functions  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Allgemeiner  Alster  Club,  par- 
ticularly regattas,  public  concert  halls  and  public 
dance  halls  (except  the  Elbhalle  and  those  at  No. 
427 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

25  Neustadterstrasse  and  No.  10  Mohlenhof- 
strasse), 

10.  To  enter  any  saloons,  restaurants,  cafes,  concert 

halls,  and  music  halls  in  the  City  of  Hamburg  or 
in  the  following  suburbs,  united  with  the  City  by 
the  Law  of  June  22,  1894:  St.  Pauli,  Eimsbiittel, 
etc., 

11.  To  ride  in  open  carriages, 

12.  To  make  use  of  any  apartments  in  the  bath-houses 

of  this  city,  other  than  those  reserved  for  the  use 
of  individual  bathers,  and  especially,  to  make  use 
of  the  swimming-pools  of  such  establishments, 

13.  To  employ,  or  permit  others  to  practise  for  them, 

any  device  or  process  calculated  to  deceive  the 
medical  inspectors, 

14.  To  support  a pimp  or  visit  the  dwellings  of  such,  or 

to  receive  pimps  in  their  own  homes. 

§ 11.  Any  woman  under  limited  supervision,  who  offers 
reasonable  assurance  that  she  has  completely  abandoned 
vice  as  a livelihood,  and  is  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  a 
legitimate  calling,  may  be  released  from  the  supervision  to 
which  she  is  subjected. 

§ 12.  In  accordance  with  § 361  sec.  6 and  § 362  of  the 
Penal  Code,  infractions  of  these  regulations  are  punished 
by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  6 weeks  and  commis- 
sion to  the  State  Police  Department  (Landespolizeibehorde), 
for  detention  in  a workhouse  for  not  more  than  2 years. 


428 


APPENDIX  IV 


VIENNA  REGULATIONS.1 

The  following  police  regulations  for  the  supervision  of 
prostitution  are  issued  in  accordance  with  § 22  of  the  Ordi- 
nance of  the  Imperial  Government  of  Lower  Austria,  dated 
February  9,  1851,  L.  G.  u.  Reg.  Bl.  No.  39, 2 on  the  Juris- 
diction of  Police  Departments ; and  with  reference  to  § 5 
of  the  Law  of  May  24,  1885,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  89-3 

I.  THE  SUPERVISING  AUTHORITY. 

§ I.  The  supervision  of  female  persons  who  make  a busi- 
ness of  selling  their  bodies  for  vicious  purposes,  is  incum- 
bent on  the  District  Police  Commissariats 4 and  on  the 
Division  for  Morals  Police  Affairs  of  the  Department  of 
Police. 

II.  ASSIGNMENT  TO  SUPERVISION. 

§ 2.  In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  edict,  as- 
signments to  supervision  may  be  made  either  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Police  or  by  the  Police  Commissariats.  But  no 
such  assignments  may  be  made  without  the  previous  declara- 
tion, on  the  part  of  the  prostitutes,  that  they  wish  to  be  put 
under  supervision. 

1 Translation  of  most  recent  regulations,  dated  June  1,  1911. 

2 Landes-Gesetz  und  Regierungs-Blatt,  No.  39. 

3 Reichs-Gesetz-Blatt,  No.  89. 

4 Bezirks-Polizeikommissariaten. 

429 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

§ 3.  Women  must  not  be  assigned  to  supervision  if 
they  are: 

(a)  girls  under  18  years  of  age, 

(b)  virgins, 

(c)  pregnant, 

(d)  married  and  not  legally  divorced, 

(e)  afflicted  with  contagious  diseases. 

Prostitutes  with  venereal  diseases  must  be  committed 

to  hospital  treatment  before  their  assignment  to  super- 
vision. 

§ 4.  Women  about  to  be  assigned  to  supervision  must 
prove  their  identity,  and,  particularly,  their  legal  domicile, 
by  presenting  the  proper  documents.  If  necessary,  a de- 
lay may  be  granted  within  which  such  papers  are  to  be 
procured.  This  delay  does  not  postpone  the  assignment 
to  supervision. 

They  must  be  thoroughly  interrogated  on  their  circum- 
stances and  on  the  reasons  which  have  caused  them  to  enter 
prostitution.  In  this  interrogation,  which  is  to  be  con- 
ducted with  due  consideration  for  the  peculiarities  of  each 
case,  particular  effort  must  be  made  to  determine  whether 
the  women  are  aware  of  the  significance  of  their  step. 

Finally,  they  are  to  be  subjected  to  an  official  medical 
examination. 

§ 5.  Minors  may  be  assigned  to  supervision  only  by  the 
Department  of  Police,  and  by  that  Department  only  when 
complete  moral  indifference,  without  any  hope  of  better- 
ment, has  been  unmistakably  ascertained. 

In  all  cases  in  which  there  is  even  the  remotest  possi- 
bility of  improvement,  the  assignment  to  supervision  is  to 
be  postponed  until  such  time  when  the  attempts  at  re- 
form may  be  regarded  as  finally  ineffective.  But  every  op- 
portunity must  always  be  offered  to  the  legally  constituted 
guardians  of  minors,  to  use  the  influence  for  good  imposed 

430 


Appendices 

on  them  by  their  position  as  guardians.  With  this  object  in 
view,  such  legal  guardians  are  to  be  invited  to  the  office,  but 
every  precaution  must  be  taken  to  guard  their  reputations. 
If  they  reside  outside  of  Vienna,  the  necessary  negotiations 
should,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  be  carried  on  directly 
with  them,  and  not  through  the  intermediation  of  the  police 
authorities  of  their  homes. 

In  order  that  the  minor  may  be  enabled,  if  possible,  to 
return  to  a decent  mode  of  life,  constant  communication 
must  be  maintained,  in  every  case,  with  the  Surrogate’s 
Office,  and,  wherever  it  is  feasible,  with  the  charitable  or- 
ganizations active  at  the  time. 

§ 6.  No  kind  of  certification  of  assignment  to  super- 
vision is  to  be  given  to  the  prostitute;  yet,  she  is  to  be 
subjected  to  verbal  instruction  on  the  essential  contents  of 
the  police  regulations. 

§ 7.  In  the  case  of  every  prostitute,  her  possible  pre- 
vious sentences  and  venereal  diseases  are  to  be  ascertained, 
either  from  the  records  of  the  Vienna  offices,  or  through 
correspondence  with  the  authorities  in  such  localities  as 
may  previously  have  assigned  her  to  supervision. 

§ 8.  Prostitutes  of  foreign  domicile  whose  coming  to 
Vienna  was  merely  for  the  purpose  of  being  assigned  to 
supervision  here,  are  to  be  deported  from  the  city,  in  ap- 
plication of  the  Law  of  July  27,  1871,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  88. 

III.  DWELLINGS  OF  PROSTITUTES. 

(a)  Prostitutes  who  practise  prostitution  in  their  own 
homes. 

§ 9.  Such  prostitutes  as  practise  prostitution  as  a trade 
in  their  own  homes  are  obliged,  in  their  choice  of  abode, 
to  obtain  the  approval  of  the  proper  Police  Commissariat. 
In  granting  this  approval  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  such 
dwellings  must  be  as  distant  as  possible  from  the  main 

43 1 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

lines  of  traffic,  and  not  in  the  vicinity  of  schools,  churches, 
or  other  public  buildings,  and  not  in  any  other  places  where 
their  presence  might  give  offence. 

§ io.  Such  prostitutes  are  not  permitted  to  live  with 
persons  in  whose  households  there  are  minors  under  the 
age  of  1 8. 

§11.  Not  more  than  three  prostitutes  who  are  under 
supervision  may  live  with  the  same  mistress  of  furnished 
rooms. 

Such  lodgings  as  may  exist  when  this  edict  goes  into 
effect,  which  do  not  fulfill  the  above  requirements,  are 
either  to  be  gradually  ordered  vacated  by  prostitutes,  at 
such  opportunities  as  may  offer,  or  the  number  of  pros- 
titutes is  to  be  reduced  to  the  prescribed  limit. 

§ 12.  In  the  choice  of  their  dwellings,  as  much  liberty  as 
is  feasible  is  to  be  allowed  such  prostitutes  as  have  homes 
of  their  own  which  they  do  not  share  with  other  prosti- 
tutes. 

§ 13.  There  is  to  be  no  relation  between  the  prosti- 
tutes and  the  mistress  of  their  rooms  other  than  that  of 
tenant  and  landlady.  No  other  influence  must  be  exerted 
by  the  landlady  over  the  prostitutes ; particularly,  the  land- 
lady must  have  no  share  or  percentage  in  the  proceeds  of 
the  vicious  trade,  nor  must  she  hinder  the  prostitutes  from 
moving  out  of  the  house,  nor  must  she  serve  alcoholic 
beverages  to  the  prostitutes  or  their  customers. 

Prostitutes  are  not  permitted  to  live  with  landladies  who 
violate  the  above  regulation,  provided  that  the  nature  of 
the  offence  has  been  explained  to  the  offender,  without 
effect. 

§ 14.  The  Police  Department  is  furthermore  privileged 
at  any  time  to  forbid  a prostitute  to  live  in  a certain  house, 
or  with  a certain  landlady,  without  assigning  a reason  for 
such  prohibition. 


43  2 


Appendices 

§ 15.  Dwellings  of  prostitutes  must  be  kept  under  con- 
stant thorough  surveillance.  Admission  to  such  dwellings 
must  be  granted  at  any  time  to  the  officials  sent  for  the 
purpose  of  inspection  of  the  dwellings. 

(b)  Prostitutes  living  in  brothels. 

§ 16.  The  establishment  of  brothels,  that  is,  of  lodgings 
in  which  prostitution  is  practised  as  a business,  and  in 
which  the  mistress  of  the  house  figures  as  the  entrepreneur 
or  manager  of  the  business,  is  to  be  prohibited. 

Brothels  already  in  existence  are  to  be  inspected  regularly, 
without  the  previous  knowledge  of  the  inmates,  both  by  the 
Commissariats  and  by  the  Police  Department,  by  the  former 
at  least  once  every  three  months,  and  by  the  latter  at  least 
once  every  half-year.  The  inspections  will  be  conducted  by 
an  officer  of  the  reporting  staff  and  an  official  physician. 

The  inspection  is  to  include  a scrutiny  of  all  the  rooms, 
an  examination  of  the  list  which  the  mistress  is  required 
to  keep  (giving  the  name,  personal  data,  day  of  admission, 
and  day  of  departure,  of  each  prostitute),  a medical  ex- 
amination of  the  prostitutes  to  determine  the  existence  of 
any  physical  abuses  or  maltreatments,  and  an  inquiry  into 
the  manner  in  which  all  the  remaining  orders  issued  for 
the  management  of  the  brothel  have  been  complied  with. 

At  these  inspections,  furthermore,  prostitutes  must  have 
an  opportunity  to  make  any  complaints  of  whatsoever 
nature,  without  pressure  from  anyone,  and  it  must  be  de- 
termined whether  any  difficulties  are  being  put  in  the  way 
of  their  leaving  the  house. 

§ 17.  The  Commission  of  the  Police  Department  may, 
as  a result  of  the  inspection,  adopt  such  measures  as  ap- 
pear to  it  to  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  public,  from 
the  standpoint  of  hygiene  or  from  that  of  the  Morals 
Police  Service. 


433 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

Should  the  Commissariat  consider  such  measures  de- 
sirable, it  must  apply  for  the  approval  of  the  Police  De- 
partment, simultaneously  submitting  the  record  of  the  in- 
spection to  the  Department. 

§ 1 8.  The  employment  in  brothels  of  servants  who  are 
minors  is  not  to  be  permitted. 

§ 19.  The  Police  Department  may  at  any  time  order  the 
closing  of  a brothel ; particularly,  when  there  have  been  in- 
fractions of  the  provisions  of  §§  17  and  18,  or  even  of  § 13, 
the  provisions  of  which  are  intended  to  be  applied  to 
brothels  also. 

(c)  Prostitutes  who  practise  prostitution  outside  of  their 
homes. 

§ 20.  Prostitutes  who  practise  prostitution  outside  of 
their  homes  are  not  as  a rule  limited  to  any  locality  in  the 
choice  of  their  dwellings.  But  even  they  may  be  forbidden 
to  live  in  a certain  house,  when  definite  acts  of  theirs  have 
been  the  occasion  of  complaints  that  have  been  shown  to  be 
well-founded. 

IV.  NATURE  OF  THE  SUPERVISION. 

§ 21.  A prostitute  subject  to  supervision  is  required  to 
report  twice  a week,  at  times  set  for  her,  for  official  medical 
examination. 

§ 22.  A prostitute  found,  when  being  officially  examined, 
to  be  afflicted  with  a venereal  disease,  is  required  to  report 
for  treatment  not  later  than  6 p.  m.  on  the  same  day,  at  the 
hospital  to  which  she  is  referred  by  the  Commissariat  of  the 
district  in  which  she  lives,  under  pain  of  compulsory  trans- 
fer, should  she  neglect  so  to  report.  For  this  purpose,  she 
must  apply  to  the  Commissariat  of  her  district,  for  a 
certificate  of  commitment. 

§ 23.  A prostitute  received  at  the  hospital  must  remain 

434 


Appendices 

there  until  her  discharge  is  ordered  by  the  physician  treat- 
ing her,  and  while  there,  must  comply  with  all  instructions. 

§ 24.  A prostitute  discharged  from  the  hospital  must 
comply  with  the  requirements  of  any  additional  outside 
treatment  or  observation  of  her  condition,  by  presenting 
herself  for  examination  at  such  intervals  as  may  be  set  by 
the  Sick  Division. 

In  order  that  diagnosis,  hospital  treatment,  and  instruc- 
tions for  supplementary  outside  treatment  may  be  entered 
on  the  sick  card,  the  latter  should  be  enclosed  with  the 
certificate  of  commitment  that  is  sent  to  the  office  of 
the  hospital  when  a prostitute  is  committed  to  such  hos- 
pital. This  card  remains  at  the  hospital  until  the  pros- 
titute is  discharged  or  until  the  conclusion  of  any  supple- 
mentary outside  treatment  or  observation  that  may  be 
ordered.  The  Police  Department  must  be  reminded  that 
the  card  is  still  at  the  hospital,  by  means  of  a note  to  that 
effect,  written  on  the  sheet  that  carries  the  notification  of 
dismissal  to  the  Police  Department. 

Should  the  necessity  of  a new  commitment  of  the  pros- 
titute to  the  hospital  arise  between  the  time  of  discharge 
and  the  termination  of  the  outside  treatment,  effort  should 
be  made  to  have  her  committed  to  the  hospital  that  is  still 
in  possession  of  her  sick  card,  or  to  induce  the  former 
hospital  to  send  the  card  to  the  hospital  in  which  the 
prostitute  has  been  received. 

§ 25.  A prostitute  under  supervision  must  give  notice 
within  24  hours  of  every  change  of  address,  to  the  Com- 
missariat of  her  former  district  as  well  as  to  that  of  her  new 
district. 

The  control-sheet  is  at  once  to  be  sent  to  the  proper  (new) 
Commissariat  through  the  Police  Department. 

§ 26.  For  reasons  connected  with  the  administration  of 
the  morals  police,  a prostitute  under  supervision  is  not  per- 

435 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

mitted  to  stroll  through  the  streets  in  the  company  of  other 
prostitutes  or  of  pimps,  or  to  grant  shelter  to  pimps  in  her 
home. 

In  other  respects  the  prostitute  is,  in  principle,  to  be  bound 
only  to  comply  with  those  general  regulations  for  public 
morality  and  decency  that  are  applicable  to  all  persons. 

§ 27.  In  the  interests  of  public  order  and  public  decency, 
and  on  application  of  the  Police  Commissariat,  orders  may 
be  issued  for  the  purpose  of  abating  a nuisance  due  to  the 
behavior  of  prostitutes  inhabiting  a certain  house  or  street 
in  large  numbers. 

But  the  scope  of  these  orders  must  not  exceed  what  is 
absolutely  required  by  the  actual  local  conditions. 

V.  OFFICIAL  MEDICAL  EXAMINATION  OF  PROSTITUTES. 

§ 28.  The  official  medical  examination  must  include  all 
portions  of  the  body,  and  involve,  if  necessary,  a use  of  all 
the  scientific  apparatus  which  has  been  developed  by  the 
progress  of  medical  knowledge,  and  which  is  at  the  disposal 
of  the  official  physician.  The  use  of  the  metroscope  is  par- 
ticularly recommended. 

In  addition  to  making  the  examination,  the  physician 
should  also,  in  each  case,  inform  the  women  of  its  pur- 
pose, as  well  as  of  the  nature  of  the  first  indications  of 
contagious  diseases,  and  of  the  danger  involved  in  such  dis- 
eases, and  of  the  means  of  preventing  infection  by  observ- 
ing the  proper  hygienic  precautions. 

§ 29.  If  the  official  physician  finds  the  prostitute  to  be  in- 
fected with  a venereal  disease,  he  must  without  delay  send 
a medical  certificate  to  that  effect  to  the  Police  Commissariat 
having  jurisdiction  in  this  case.  He  must  warn  the  pros- 
titute as  to  the  obligations  imposed  upon  her  by  §§22  and 
23,  and  order  her  to  stop  having  sexual  intercourse,  simul- 

436 


Appendices 

taneously  calling  her  attention  to  § 5,  item  3,  of  the  Law  of 
May  24,  1885,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  89. 

§ 30.  The  physician  must  enter  the  name  of  any  pros- 
titute whom  he  commits  to  the  hospital  in  the  list  of  in- 
spections which  he  is  required  to  keep. 

The  final  hospital  diagnosis,  which  is  transmitted  to  the 
Police  Commissariat  after  the  dismissal  of  the  prostitute 
from  the  hospital,  must  be  sent  to  the  physician  for  entry 
on  his  inspection  list. 

§ 31.  Prostitutes  who  fail  to  appear  for  official  medical 
examination,  even  though  such  failure  occur  only  once,  must 
immediately  be  reported  to  the  Police  Commissariat,  which, 
unless  adequate  reasons  for  the  omission  are  advanced,  will 
at  once  cause  the  arraignment  of  such  prostitutes.  Such 
arraignment  does  not  preclude  the  instituting  of  penal  pro- 
ceedings against  the  prostitutes. 

Likewise,  those  prostitutes  that  do  not  appear  at  their 
official  medical  examination  at  the  time  set,  are  to  be  re- 
ported to  the  Police  Commissariat  in  order  that  penal  pro- 
ceedings may  be  instituted. 

VI.  DEPARTURE  FROM  SUPERVISION. 

§ 32.  A prostitute  desiring  to  retire  from  supervision 
must  make  personal  declaration  of  such  desire  to  the  Com- 
missariat and  undergo  an  official  medical  examination.  If 
she  is  found,  at  this  examination,  to  be  afflicted  with  a 
venereal  disease,  she  is  to  be  committed  to  a hospital  and 
her  declaration  of  departure  is  not  to  be  noted  until  she  has 
been  dismissed  from  the  hospital. 

§ 33.  A prostitute  under  supervision  who  evades  su- 
pervision without  a previous  notification  of  her  desire  to 
be  dropped  from  the  list,  is  to  be  prosecuted  at  once,  unless 
she  is  in  a position  to  show  that  she  has  led  a decent  life 
since  ceasing  to  comply  with  the  supervision. 

437 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

§ 34.  The  Police  Department  must  at  once  be  notified 
of  names  dropped  from  supervision;  the  women’s  control- 
sheets  must  accompany  such  notification. 

§ 35.  Any  further  surveillance  that  may  be  necessary 
after  dropping  a prostitute  from  the  lists,  must  be  conducted 
in  accordance  with  the  principles  governing  the  supervision 
of  prostitutes  not  under  control. 

VII.  SURVEILLLANCE  OF  PROSTITUTES  NOT  UNDER  SUPER- 
VISION. 

§ 36.  It  is  incumbent  on  the  Police  Commissariats,  as 
well  as  directly  on  the  Office  for  Morals  Police  Affairs,  to 
determine  what  persons  are  carrying  on  prostitution  in  a 
commercial  manner,  without  having  declared  their  entrance 
under  supervision. 

§ 37.  The  Imperial  Safety  Guard,  as  well  as  such  Im- 
perial Police  agents  as  are  not  specifically  entrusted  with  sur- 
veillance over  prostitution,  may  take  steps  against  women 
practising  prostitution,  only  when  the  facts  have  been  es- 
tablished beyond  any  possibility  of  doubt,  or  when  there 
are  special  reasons  for  interference,  as,  for  example,  § 516 
of  the  Penal  Code,  § 1 of  the  Law  of  May  24,  1885,  R.  G. 
Bl.  No.  89,  or  § 11  of  the  Imperial  Ordinance  of  April  20, 
1854,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  96. 

§ 38.  Only  such  police  officers  as  are  specifically  en- 
trusted with  the  surveillance  over  prostitution  may  accost 
or  detain  persons  merely  on  suspicion  of  their  practising 
immorality  as  a trade,  and  then  only  after  having  repeat- 
edly, in  the  course  of  observations  held  on  a number  of 
different  days,  gathered  material  of  a nature  to  justify  such 
action. 

Other  police  officers,  when  merely  suspecting  the  prac- 
tice of  commercial  prostitution,  will  limit  themselves  to  a 
report  of  their  observations. 

438 


Appendices 

§ 39-  Special  attention  is  to  be  paid  to  the  lower  class 
of  saloons. 

Every  legal  means  must  be  used  in  prosecuting  the  owners 
of  such  places  as  may  arouse  suspicion  by  the  employment 
therein  of  female  persons  for  other  tasks  than  those  con- 
nected with  the  sale  of  liquor.  In  cases  that  are  clear,  the 
Labor  Department  must  be  informed  of  the  facts.  Owners 
of  such  places  must  be  denied  all  concessions  within  the 
gift  of  the  police,  such  as  the  license  to  keep  open  after 
the  regular  closing  hour,  or  to  provide  musical  entertain- 
ment. If  they  already  hold  such  concessions,  the  latter 
are  to  be  canceled. 

§ 40.  Persons  practising  prostitution  commercially  under 
the  cloak  of  some  regular  calling  are  to  be  kept  under  the 
necessary  surveillance. 

§ 41.  Investigation  must  be  made  of  all  complaints 
against  persons  suspected  of  procuring,  or  of  practising 
prostitution  commercially,  as  well  as  of  all  questionable 
advertisements  in  the  daily  press. 

§ 42.  In  each  case  the  investigation  must  be  made  with 
due  regard  for  the  reputation  of  the  person  suspected,  and 
with  a discretion  that  should  be  all  the  greater  when  the 
foundation  for  a penal  case  is  weak. 

VIII.  TREATMENT  OF  COMPLAINTS. 

§ 43.  Complaints  made  as  to  any  offensive  conduct  on 
the  part  of  prostitutes  in  the  streets  or  in  certain  houses 
must  be  carefully  investigated,  and  measures  must  be  taken 
for  the  abatement  of  such  nuisances. 

IX.  PENALTIES. 

(a)  For  prostitutes  under  supervision. 

§ 44.  The  punishment  of  prostitutes  under  supervision, 
for  violations  of  the  Police  Ordinances  governing  the  sur- 

439 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

veillance  over  prostitution,  is  imposed  by  the  Police  Com- 
missariats in  accordance  with  § 5,  item  2,  of  the  Law  of 
May  24,  1885,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  89,  and  with  Ministerial  Ordi- 
nance of  September  30,  1857,  R.  G.  BL  No.  198. 

The  penalty  is  detention  for  a period  of  from  6 hours  to 
8 days,  depending  on  a very  specific  examination  of  the 
various  circumstances  constituting  the  offence. 

§ 45.  In  the  case  of  insignificant  irregularities,  particu- 
larly in  the  case  of  a first  offence,  prosecution  may  be  omitted 
after  the  prostitute  has  been  properly  reprimanded. 

§ 46.  Legal  proceedings  in  accordance  with  § 5,  item  2, 
of  the  Law  of  May  24,  1885,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  89,  must  not  be 
instituted  except  when  the  offence  provided  for  in  that 
section  is  committed  by  a prostitute  who  has  been  punished 
several  times  by  the  police  for  a similar  offence,  in  other 
words,  when  it  is  evident,  both  that  the  case  is  one  of  per- 
sistent disregard  of  police  regulations,  and  that  the  severity 
of  the  penalty  imposed  by  the  police  is  not  commensurate 
with  the  seriousness  of  the  case.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  imposing  of  detention  for  more  than  eight  days, 
or  even  commitment  to  a workhouse  or  house  of  correction, 
is  permissible. 

Whenever  complaints  are  to  be  filed  with  the  courts,  the 
exact  nature  of  the  offence  must  be  stated,  and  reasons  must 
be  advanced  for  asking  the  aid  of  the  courts. 

(b)  For  prostitutes  not  under  supervision. 

§ 47.  Cases  against  prostitutes  not  under  supervision 
may  be  tried  either  by  the  Police  Commissariats  or  by  the 
Police  Department  directly. 

In  connection  with  every  trial,  a resume  of  the  decisions 
made  in  each  case  must  be  drawn  up. 

§ 48.  No  punishment  should  be  imposed  on  women  ac- 
cused for  the  first  time  of,  or  arrested  for  the  first  time  for, 

440 


Appendices 

commercial  prostitution,  especially  when  they  are  still  young, 
even  though  the  facts  be  beyond  doubt,  unless  such  punish- 
ment may  be  required,  as  a repressive  measure,  by  the  mani- 
fest depravity  of  the  case. 

In  all  cases  in  which  it  may  seem  not  unreasonable  to  as- 
sume that  the  woman  accused  has  been  led  into  prostitu- 
tion by  circumstances  of  a temporary  and  accidental  nature 
only,  and  that  consequently  her  return  to  a respectable  mode 
of  life  might  be  rendered  more  difficult  by  the  stigma  of  a 
police  penalty,  no  other  action  must  be  taken  than  the  ap- 
plying of  such  of  the  charitable  provisions  of  § 5,  as  are 
applicable  to  the  particular  case. 

Such  charitable  provisions  must  also  be  carried  out,  in 
the  case  of  a prostitute  not  under  supervision,  when  she  is 
a minor,  against  whom  a penal  action  has  been  instituted. 

§ 49.  No  woman  accused  of  the  practice  of  commercial 
prostitution  may  be  subjected  to  the  official  medical  ex- 
amination until  the  offence  is  finally  proved. 

§ 50.  A prostitute  found  to  be  afflicted  with  a venereal 
disease  at  the  official  medical  examination,  must  immediately 
be  taken  to  the  hospital.  As  a preliminary  she  must  be  in- 
formed of  the  rules  provided  for  prostitutes  under  super- 
vision, in  §§23  and  24,  which  rules,  under  these  circum- 
stances, are  applicable  also  to  prostitutes  not  under  super- 
vision. 

Punishments  for  infractions  of  these  obligations  are  to 
be  imposed  in  accordance  with  § 5,  item  2,  of  the  Law  of 
May  24,  1885,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  89,  and  in  accordance  with 
Ministerial  Ordinance  of  September  30,  1857,  R.  G.  Bl.  No. 
198. 

§ 51.  Penalties  imposed  by  the  police  on  persons  con- 
victed of  the  practice  of  commercial  prostitution,  must  con- 
form to  § 5,  section  1,  or,  in  the  case  of  persons  previously 
punished  for  similar  offences,  to  § 5,  item  1,  of  the  Law  of 

441 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

May  24,  1885,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  89,  and  to  the  Ministerial 
Ordinance  of  September  30,  1857,  R.  G.  Bl.  No.  198. 

The  provisions  of  § 46  or  of  § 44  determine  whether  pro- 
ceedings are  to  be  instituted,  in  accordance  with  § 5,  item 
1,  of  the  above  law,  and  also,  what  is  to  be  the  severity  of 
the  punishment;  yet,  in  assigning  a penalty,  the  principle 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  a prostitute  not  under  super- 
vision is  to  be  treated  with  greater  severity  than  one  who 
is  under  supervision. 

§ 52.  When  the  police  impose  a penalty  on  a prostitute 
not  under  supervision,  the  facts  of  the  case,  and,  particularly, 
the  amenability  of  the  accused,  must  be  so  formulated  as  to 
leave  no  misunderstanding  in  the  mind  of  the  latter,  as  to 
the  offence  imputed  to  her. 

x.  JURISDICTION. 

(a)  Jurisdiction  of  the  Police  Department. 

§ 53.  The  following  business  is  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Office  for  Morals  Police  Affairs : 

1.  The  functions  conferred  on  this  office  in  its  capacity 
as  headquarters  for  the  surveillance  of  the  white  slave 
traffic,  in  accordance  with  the  edict  of  the  Department  of 
Police,  dated  August  12,  1905. 

2.  All  records  of  general  nature  concerning  prostitutes 
under  supervision,  concerning  the  houses  mentioned  in  §§  9 
and  16,  and  the  mistresses  of  such  houses,  concerning  pros- 
titutes not  under  supervision,  concerning  pimps,  and  con- 
cerning procuring. 

3.  The  instituting  of  proceedings  to  determine  whether 
minors,  or  prostitutes  who  ply  their  trade  outside  of  their 
homes,  are  to  be  placed  under  supervision. 

4.  Orders  to  evacuate  streets  or  houses  inhabited  by 
prostitutes. 

5.  Management  of  such  prostitutes  not  under  super- 

442 


Appendices 

vision  as  may  be  traced  by  the  officers  assigned  to  the 
office. 

6.  Complete  control  over  such  trials  as  may,  by  reason 
of  their  importance,  be  assigned  to  the  office  by  the  Presi- 
dent. 

7.  Keeping  on  file  the  complaints  lodged  with  the  Police 
Department,  as  well  as  with  the  Police  Commissariats,  as 
to  the  behavior  of  the  prostitutes. 

8.  Supervision  of  the  Commissariats  with  the  object 
of  maintaining  a uniform  application  of  the  prostitution 
regulations. 

9.  Inspection  of  the  punishment  and  fine  books  kept  by 
the  Commissariats. 

10.  Examination  of  the  appeals  made  against  the  judg- 
ments of  the  Commissariats. 

11.  Consultations  at  regular  intervals  with  the  officials 
assigned  to  report  on  prostitution. 

12.  Collecting  of  material  having  reference  to  the  regula- 
tion of  prostitution,  and  advancing  of  proposals  thereon. 

(b)  Jurisdiction  of  the  Police  Commissariats. 

§ 54.  The  application  of  the  prostitution  regulations,  in 
all  matters  in  which  § 53  does  not  stipulate  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  the  Police  Department,  is  incumbent  on  the 
Police  Commissariats. 

The  Commissariats  must  keep  records  on  the  following 
matters : 

1.  Prostitutes,  in  their  district,  under  supervision, 

2.  Dwellings  of  prostitutes  under  supervision,  who  prac- 
tise prostitution  in  such  dwellings. 

3.  Mistresses  or  keepers  of  such  dwellings. 

Furthermore,  the  Police  Commissariats  must  transmit  the 

following  material  to  the  Police  Department: 

443 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

(a)  Weekly  reports  of  changes  occurring  in  their  own 
districts,  in  the  number  of  prostitutes, 

(b)  Complaints  as  to  the  behavior  of  the  prostitutes, 

(c)  Accusations  of  procuring, 

(d)  The  documents  provided  for  in  §47, 

(e)  After  disposing  of  the  cases,  the  reports  of  failure 
to  appear  for  medical  examination, 

( f ) The  punishment-books  ( every  month ) , 

(g)  The  records  taken  in  the  inspections  of  brothels. 

Finally,  the  Commissariats  must  report  any  changes  in  the 
number  of  houses  mentioned  in  §§  9 and  16,  as  well  as  in 
the  mistresses  of  such  houses,  and  they  must  also  report  all 
cases  of  failure  to  assign  a prostitute  to  supervision  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  the  necessary  preliminary  condition  pro- 
vided in  § 2 has  been  realized. 


444 


APPENDIX  V 


DANISH  LAW  FOR  RESISTING  PUBLIC  IMMOR- 
ALITY AND  VENEREAL  INFECTION,  CON- 
FIRMED BY  HIS  MAJESTY  KING  FRED- 
ERICK VIII  ON  MARCH  30,  1906. 

§ 1.  Police  supervision  of  commercial  immorality  is 
hereby  abolished.  Police  action  against  persons  practis- 
ing such  trade  is  legitimate  when  it  accords  with  the  condi- 
tions, and  proceeds  in  the  manner,  provided  in  the  legisla- 
tion on  vagrancy  (Lovgivningen  om  L0sgsengeri).  Yet, 
the  order  mentioned  in  the  Law  of  March  3,  i860,  § 2,  must 
not  be  given  unless  warning  has  been  previously  issued. 

§ 2.  Anyone  who  incites  or  entices  to  immorality,  in  such 
manner,  or  who  displays  an  immoral  mode  of  life,  to  such  a 
degree,  as  to  offend  the  sense  of  decency,  or  to  become  a 
public  nuisance,  or  to  disturb  those  living  in  the  vicinity, 
shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment,  or,  under  aggravating 
circumstances,  or  for  a repetition  of  the  offence,  by  com- 
mitment to  the  penitentiary.  If  there  are  extenuating  cir- 
cumstances, the  punishment  may  be  commuted  to  a fine. 

The  same  punishment  is  provided  for  any  woman  who 
practises  immorality  as  a trade,  provided  that  a male  person, 
or  a minor  over  two  years  of  age,  lives  in  the  same  dwelling 
with  her,  or  that  she  receives  visits  for  immoral  purposes 
from  male  persons  under  eighteen  years  of  age. 

Any  person  not  previously  warned  or  punished  for  one  of 
the  above  offences,  may,  instead  of  being  punished,  be  simply 
warned,  by  the  Police  Department ; but  no  warning  may  be 
issued  if  the  accused  demands  sentence  by  law. 

445 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

§ 3.  The  keeping  of  brothels  is  prohibited.  Anyone! 
violating  this  prohibition  is  punished  by  imprisonment  in  a 
house  of  correction  or  at  hard  labor,  or  by  imprisonment  on 
common  prison  diet.  The  same  punishment  is  imposed  on 
anyone  guilty  of  procuring.  Such  persons  as  may,  with  the 
object  of  pecuniary  profit,  grant  admission  to  their  dwell- 
ings, to  persons  of  different  sex,  in  order  that  vicious  prac- 
tices may  there  take  place,  or  such  as  let  rooms,  not  for  the 
purpose  of  prolonged  habitation,  but  in  order  to  provide  an 
opportunity  for  immoral  practices,  or  such  as  admit  to  their 
houses  female  persons  under  the  age  of  eighteen,  who  are 
seeking  gain  by  immoral  practices,  shall  be  punished  by  de- 
tention in  prison  or  at  hard  labor.  In  the  case  of  a re- 
peated offence,  the  punishment  may  be  increased  to  com- 
mission to  a penitentiary  for  a period  not  exceeding  two 
years. 

It  is  forbidden  to  offer  for  sale,  or  to  send  out  circulars 
concerning,  or  to  exhibit  a signboard  concerning,  any  de- 
vice calculated  to  prevent  the  consequences  of  cohabitation, 
to  the  general  public,  or  to  individuals  not  personally  known 
to  the  seller,  or  to  persons  not  distinctly  specified.  Viola- 
tion of  this  prohibition  is  treated  and  punished  in  accordance 
with  the  rules  governing  violations  of  police  regulations. 

§ 4.  The  same  punishment  as  that  provided  in  § 181  of 
the  General  Civil  Penal  Code,  shall  be  imposed  on  any 
person  who,  under  the  circumstances  described  in  the  para- 
graph cited,  has  carnal  intercourse  with  the  person  to  whom 
he  or  she  is  married,  provided,  that  the  latter  has  thereby 
contracted  an  infection,  and  makes  a charge  to  that  effect 
within  one  year  after  acquiring  knowledge  as  to  the  con- 
traction of  the  disease. 

Anyone  guilty  of  the  offence  described  in  §181  of  the 
General  Civil  Penal  Code,  or  of  the  offence  described 
above,  must,  when  the  other  person,  without  having  pre- 

446 


Appendices 

viously  been  informed  of  the  danger  of  infection,  becomes 
infected,  not  only  indemnify  the  infected  person  for  the 
expenses  involved  in  the  curative  treatment,  but  must  also 
pay  damages  to  cover  the  sufferings  and  losses  due  to  the 
disease. 

§ 5.  Persons  afflicted  with  venereal  diseases  have  the 
right,  regardless  of  whether  they  are  able  or  not  able  to  de- 
fray the  expenses  of  their  cure,  to  demand  treatment  of 
such  diseases  at  the  public  expense.  Likewise,  such  per- 
sons are  obliged  to  submit  to  such  public  treatment  unless 
they  can  show  that  they  have  already  engaged  proper  medi- 
cal attention.  If  such  persons  are  not  situated  in  surround- 
ings of  a nature  to  furnish  reasonable  assurance  that  the 
disease  will  not  be  transmitted  to  other  persons,  unless 
such  patients  are  removed,  or,  if  the  patients  do  not  comply 
with  orders  given  to  prevent  the  infection  of  others,  they 
may  be  committed  to  a hospital  for  treatment.  When  such 
steps  become  necessary,  the  district  judges  (in  Copenhagen, 
the  Director  of  Police)  shall,  with  the  approval  of  the  Minis- 
ter of  Justices,  issue  the  appropriate  orders,  and  compliance 
with  the  obligation  thus  imposed  may  be  forced  by  fines,  im- 
posed by  the  authorities  cited,  and,  when  such  fines  are  of 
no  avail,  by  arraignment  by  the  police. 

Those  permanently  in  receipt  of  poor  relief,  who  are 
found  to  be  afflicted  with  venereal  diseases,  are  to  be  com- 
mitted to  a hospital  for  treatment. 

§ 6.  Whenever,  in  the  course  of  the  treatment  of  a dis- 
ease, or  at  the  termination  of  such  treatment,  it  is  considered 
necessary,  in  view  of  the  danger  of  infection,  to  keep  the 
patient  under  constant  supervision,  he  must  be  ordered  by 
the  physician,  to  present  himself  to  the  latter  at  certain 
fixed  times,  or,  in  lieu  of  such  action,  to  furnish  docu- 
mentary evidence  that  another  authorized  physician  has 
undertaken  to  treat  him.  Blanks  to  be  used  in  issuing  such 

447 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

orders  may  be  obtained  from  the  proper  City  or  District 
Physician. 

If  the  patient  violates  this  order,  or  if  the  physician  does 
not  desire  to  treat  him  any  longer,  and  if,  on  request  to 
furnish  evidence  that  his  treatment  has  been  undertaken  by 
another  physician,  he  neglects  to  do  so,  notification  of  this 
fact  must  be  sent  to  the  proper  Public  or  Examining 
Physician,  who  will  then  order  such  patient  to  report  at  the 
Consultation  Office,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
§13  below. 

§ 7.  It  is  incumbent  on  every  physician  who  examines 
or  treats  a patient  for  a venereal  disease,  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  latter  to  the  contagious  character  of 
the  disease,  and  to  the  legal  consequences  of  infecting  other 
persons,  or  exposing  them  to  infection,  with  the  disease, 
and,  particularly,  to  warn  the  patient  against  contracting 
marriage,  while  the  danger  of  infection  is  still  present. 
Blanks  for  issuing  these  admonitions  may  be  obtained  from 
the  proper  City  or  District  Physician. 

§ 8.  In  his  weekly  reports  to  the  proper  City  or  District 
Physician,  every  physician  must  distinctly  state  that  he 
has  carried  out  the  provisions  of  the  above  paragraph,  as 
well  as  indicate  the  number  of  persons  to  whom  he  has  is- 
sued the  orders  described  in  § 6. 

Violation  of  the  provisions  of  §§  6 and  7,  and  of  the 
first  section  of  this  paragraph,  shall  be  punished  by  fines 
not  exceeding  200  kroner.  Any  one  in  these  circum- 
stances, who  gives  a wrong  name,  business,  or  address,  to 
the  physician  treating  him,  shall  be  punished  in  accordance 
with  § 155  of  the  Penal  Code. 

§ 9.  An  infant  afflicted  with  syphilis  may  not  be  given 
to  be  nursed,  to  any  woman  except  the  mother  of  the  child. 
Nor  may  any  nurse  who  knows  or  thinks  she  is  infected 
with  this  disease,  accept  the  child  of  any  other  woman  to 

448 


Appendices 

nurse.  Violations  of  these  prohibitions  shall  be  punished 
by  imposing  the  penalty  provided  in  § 181  of  the  General 
Civil  Penal  Code,  which  also  provides  that  any  one  con- 
victed of  such  offence,  shall,  if  the  disease  be  transmitted, 
not  only  be  obliged  to  indemnify  the  person  so  infected, 
for  the  costs  of  treatment,  but  shall  also  have  to  pay  dam- 
ages for  sufferings  and  losses  due  to  the  disease.  The  same 
liability  for  damages  shall  be  incumbent  on  such  person 
as  hands  over  a child  whom  he  knows  or  has  reason  to 
know  to  be  infected  with  a venereal  disease,  to  the  care 
of  other  persons,  or  who  puts  out  such  child  to  nurse, 
without  having  previously  informed  the  foster-parents,  or 
the  nurse,  of  the  fact  that  the  child  is  afflicted,  or  sus- 
pected of  being  afflicted,  with  syphilis,  and  of  the  danger 
of  infection  involved  in  relations  of  this  nature  with  such 
child.  To  put  out  such  child  to  nurse  is  forbidden  under 
any  circumstances  that  would  expose  other  children  to  in- 
fection; violation  of  this  prohibition  is  punished  by  apply- 
ing the  provisions  of  item  2 of  the  first  section  of  this  para- 
graph. 

These  provisions  are  applicable  also  to  such  public  au- 
thorities as  put  out  children  to  nurse,  or  assign  them 
to  the  care  of  foster-parents. 

A child  is  considered  to  be  suspicious,  from  the  stand- 
point of  syphilis,  even  though  no  indications  of  the  disease 
have  put  in  their  appearance,  in  case  either  of  the  parents 
has  contracted  syphilis  within  the  past  seven  years,  and 
three  months  have  not  yet  elapsed  since  the  birth  of  the 
child. 

§ 10.  Any  one  accused  of  one  of  the  offences  provided 
for  in  § 1,  § 2,  § 4,  or  § 9,  item  2,  or  in  § 181  of  the  Gen- 
eral Civil  Penal  Code,  may,  by  his  express  consent,  be  sub- 
jected, under  the  auspices  of  the  police,  to  a medical  ex- 
amination. In  case  of  a refusal  to  be  examined,  the  court 

449 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

may  deliver  a verdict,  provided  the  accusation  be  considered 
well-founded,  ordering  the  examination  to  be  made  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  accused. 

§ II.  The  medical  examinations  provided  in  § io  will 
be  held  at  the  place  indicated  by  the  police,  by  the  proper 
City  or  District  Physician,  or  by  a special  Examining  Phy- 
sician appointed  for  the  purpose.  Compulsory  examina- 
tions must  be  conducted,  unless  this  right  is  expressly  waived 
by  the  person  to  be  examined,  by  a physician  of  the  same 
sex  as  the  latter,  provided  such  can  be  found  in  the  town 
itself  or  within  such  distance  from  it  as  to  cause  no  con- 
siderable delay,  and  provided  such  physician  is  willing  to 
conduct  examinations  of  this  nature. — Physicians  discharg- 
ing such  duties  shall  either  receive  an  annual  salary,  to  be 
fixed  by  the  local  administration  and  approved  by  the  Min- 
ister of  Justice,  or,  if  no  such  salary  shall  have  been  so  fixed 
and  approved,  they  shall  be  paid  for  each  examination,  as 
follows:  For  examinations  of  individuals  to  be  conducted 
at  the  same  place  and  time,  4 kroner  for  the  examination 
of  the  first  such  individual,  and  1 krone  for  each  individ- 
ual examined  immediately  thereafter;  in  addition  they  may 
be  reimbursed  for  any  outlay  made  for  their  transportation. 
In  towns,  such  payments  are  to  be  made  from  the  town 
treasury;  in  the  country,  from  the  provincial  appropria- 
tions fund;  and  on  the  Island  of  Bornholm,  from  the  prov- 
incial fund  available  for  both  town  and  country.  For 
drawing  up  a certificate  to  indicate  whether  or  not  the  per- 
son examined  has  been  found  to  be  afflicted  with  a vene- 
real disease,  no  special  payment  shall  be  made  to  the  phy- 
sician. 

§ 12.  Likewise,  but  at  times  other  than  those  set  for  the 
above  examinations,  Public  or  Examining  Physicians  shall 
examine,  and,  if  it  be  necessary  and  feasible,  without  com- 
mitment to  a hospital,  shall  treat  any  person  who  applies 

450 


Appendices 

to  them  or  is  referred  to  them  because  of  venereal  infec- 
tion. No  payment  may  be  required  or  accepted  from  the 
patient  for  such  services.  Payment  shall  be  made  out  of 
the  public  funds  in  accordance  with  the  rules  followed 
heretofore. 

In  Copenhagen  there  must  always  be  on  hand  a sufficient 
number  of  examining  physicians,  who  are  assigned  to  a 
daily  schedule  of  attendance  at  offices  in  various  parts  of  the 
city,  at  times  set  by  the  Health  Board. 

§ 13.  Whenever  the  Public  or  Examining  Physician  con- 
siders it  necessary,  in  view  of  the  danger  of  contagion,  to 
order  patients  to  report  to  him  at  times  to  be  definitely  set 
by  the  physician,  the  latter  shall  so  order,  making  use  of 
the  blanks  officially  provided  for  the  purpose. 

Compliance  with  this  order  may  be  forced  by  the  im- 
posing of  fines,  by  the  District  Judge  (in  Copenhagen,  by 
the  Director  of  Police),  with  the  approval  of  the  Minister 
of  Justice,  and,  should  this  fail  to  produce  the  desired  ef- 
fect, by  arraignment  by  the  police. 

§ 14.  Those  committed  to  a hospital  for  treatment  of 
venereal  diseases  at  the  public  expense,  shall  not  leave  the 
hospital  until  they  are  discharged  by  the  hospital  physician. 
Violation  of  this  provision  is  punished  by  imprisonment  on 
common  prison  diet  for  not  more  than  twenty  days,  or  by 
ordinary  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  one  month. 

§ 15.  The  police  may  prohibit  hotel-keepers,  inn-keep- 
ers, and  saloon-keepers  from  granting  shelter,  in  their 
establishments,  to  female  persons  who  have  been  sentenced 
for  violating  § 2 of  this  law,  or  from  employing  such  fe- 
male persons  to  entertain  or  serve  the  guests  in  such  estab- 
lisliments. 

Violations  of  this  prohibition  shall  be  punished  by  fines 
not  exceeding  100  kroner,  imprisonment  on  common  prison 
diet  for  not  more  than  two  months,  or  imprisonment  at 

451 


Prostitution  in  Europe 

hard  labor  for  not  more  than  three  months.  If  the  offender 
has  not  been  previously  sentenced  or  warned  for  the  same 
offence,  a warning  by  the  Police  Department  may  take  the 
place  of  a sentence.  But  no  warning  shall  be  issued  if  the 
accused  demands  sentence  by  law. 

§ 16.  In  administering  the  provisions  of  this  law  for 
imprisonment  or  penitentiary  commitment,  the  rules  set 
by  Chapter  II  of  the  General  Civil  Penal  Code,  as  well 
as  by  the  Provisional  Law  of  April  i,  1905,  shall  be  fol- 
lowed. Trials  for  violations  treated  in  § 2,  § 6,  section  2, 
§7,  § 8,  section  1,  § 9,  § 14,  and  § 15,  shall  be  conducted 
as  regular  public  police  trials,  but  behind  closed  doors. 
Fines  imposed  as  a result  of  these  public  trials,  are 
added  to  the  police  fund;  in  Copenhagen,  to  the  city 
treasury. 

§ 17.  By  the  term  “ venereal  diseases,”  as  used  in  this 
law,  are  meant  the  diseases  known  to  medical  science  as 
syphilis , gonorrhoea,  and  ulcus  venereum. 

§ 18.  This  law  goes  into  effect  six  months  after  it  has 
been  printed  in  the  Law  Journal;  but  the  enrolment  of  im- 
moral women,  which  has  been  carried  on  heretofore  in 
accordance  with  the  Law  of  April  10,  1874,  shall  cease  at 
once.  Simultaneously  §§180  and  182  of  the  Penal  Code, 
and  the  Law  of  April  10,  1874,  on  Measures  to  Resist  the 
Spread  of  Venereal  Infection,  the  Law  of  March  1,  1895,  on 
Changes  and  Additions  in  the  above  Law,  the  Law  of  April 
11,  1901,  on  Additions  to  the  two  preceding  laws,  and  the 
Laws  of  February  11,  1863,  §8,  final  item,  and  of  Feb- 
ruary 4,  1874,  § 2,  section  c,  together  with  all  rules,  reg- 
ulations, and  orders  based  thereon,  are  hereby  abolished,  as 
such  rules,  regulations,  and  orders  can  no  longer  be  en- 
forced on  the  basis  of  the  laws  in  operation  before  the  go- 
ing into  effect  of  the  Law  of  April  10,  1874. 


452 


INDEX 


Abolition  defined,  286-287. 

Amsterdam,  297,  339. 

Animierkneipe,  10,  30,  46,  94. 

Armies,  venereal  disease  in, 

370-379,  393,  394- 

Arrests,  161-163,  278-281,  334. 

Augagneur  V.,  361,  379. 

Barmaids,  88. 

Baumgarten,  A.,  65,  78,  140,  154, 

170,  185. 

Berlin,  regulation  in,  123-129; 
street  conditions  in,  157-158; 
sanitary  control  in,  206-209, 
214-215;  compared  with  Paris 
and  London,  309;  regulations, 
text  of,  41 5-41 9. 

Birmingham,  316-317. 

Blaschko,  A.,  42,  43,  74,  115, 
143,  217,  221,  239,  282,  366, 
393- 

Bloch,  I.,  4,  5,  49,  120,  179,  205. 

Booth,  Mrs.  B.,  83,  88. 

Booth,  G,  17,  18,  85. 

Bordells,  definition,  166;  preva- 
lence of,  166-167 ; number  and 
size,  172-174;  decay  of,  180, 
182 ; effect  on  street  condi- 
tions, 192-196;  effect  on  other 
forms  of  vice,  196-198;  in  re- 
lation to  disease,  256-261 ; 
suppression  of,  in  abolition 
towns,  323-324. 


Bremen,  regulation  in.  129-136; 
bordells  in,  169. 

Brothels,  292-295. 

Brussels,  sanitary  control  in, 
227. 

Budapest,  regulation  in,  131- 
136;  street  conditions  in,  157- 
158;  bordells  in,  187;  rendez- 
vous houses  in,  200. 

Christiania,  324,  328,  329,  331, 
379-381,  386-388. 

Continence  among  males,  41- 
43;  wholesomeness  of,  50-51. 

Coote,  W.  A.,  304,  314. 

Copenhagen,  324,  328,  339,  379- 
388. 

Danish  law,  296,  346-347;  text 
in  full,  445-452. 

Degeneracy  and  prostitution, 
67-70. 

Denmark,  venereal  disease  in: 
see  Copenhagen. 

Denunciation,  353-358. 

Dispensary  system,  360-361. 

Disappearances,  154-155 ; 234- 
235;  249-250. 

Dresden,  regulation  in,  133-136. 

Dufour,  P.,  143. 

Dutch  Law,  296. 

Economic  pressure,  83-87. 


1453 


Index 


Edinburgh,  318. 

Employment  agencies,  94-95. 

England,  venereal  disease  in, 
363-365;  371-377. 

Engel-Reimers,  J.,  247. 

Fiaux,  L.,  23,  25,  35,  77,  hi,  139. 
143,  144,  155,  181,  186,  190. 

Finger,  E.,  42,  78,  154,  246. 

Fosdick,  R.  B.,  269. 

Geneva,  sanitary  control  in,  227. 

German  Empire,  venereal  dis- 
ease in,  378-379. 

Glasgow,  320-321. 

Gonorrhoea,  224,  231-233,  244- 
245,  250-252. 

The  Hague,  328,  332. 

Hamburg,  regulation  in,  133- 
136;  bordells  in,  168;  sanitary 
control  in,  215,  228;  text  of 
regulations,  420-428. 

Henry,  Sir  E.,  313-314. 

Hirschfeld,  M.,  46. 

Hoff,  E.  M.,  330,  353,  382,  389. 

Homosexuality,  pp.  31-32. 

Hospital  treatment,  236-238. 

Illegitimacy,  81. 

Immorality  distinguished  from 
prostitution,  16-19. 

Italy,  abolition  legislation  in, 
349-353° 

Johannson,  J.  E.,  20,  37,  51,  202, 
219,  235,  236,  279,  332. 

Kneeland  G.  J.,  231. 

Krefting,  R,  386,  388. 


Lepine,  Louis,  24,  138-139,  140, 
155,  170,  190,  278. 

Liquor  and  prostitution,  45,  98- 

99* 

Liverpool,  315-319. 

London,  laws,  292,  etc.;  street 
and  brothel  conditions,  302- 
308 ; compared  with  conti- 
nental cities,  309;  police  con- 
ditions in,  3 12-3 14. 

Lyons,  158. 

Maison  de  passe,  196. 

Manchester,  158,  317,  318. 

McNeil,  A.,  231. 

Melville,  C.  H.,  364,  373,  375, 
377,  379- 

Minors,  77-79,  152-154,  241-243. 

Moll,  A.,  12,  50,  82,  192. 

Morals  police,  147,  270-273,  281- 
282,  341-342. 

Munich,  regulation  in,  130,  132; 
street  conditions  in,  158-159. 

Neisser,  A.,  241,  246. 

Notification  of  disease,  362-363. 

Norway,  venereal  disease  in: 
see  Christiania. 

Norwegian  law,  295,  343-345. 

Parent-Duchatelet,  A.  J.  B.,  10, 
21,  22,  70,  73. 

Paris,  regulation  in,  130-136; 
street  conditions  in,  157-158; 
bordells  in,  170,  190;  sanitary 
control  in,  21 1,  226;  Hospital 
St.  Lazare,  213;  medical  ex- 
amination, 216-218;  compared 
with  London,  309 ; text  of 
regulations,  405,  414. 


454 


Index 


Pimps,  32-33,  95-97,  336. 

Pinkus,  F.,  81,  83,  230,  234,  238, 
244,  251,  257. 

Police,  397,  399. 

Prostitutes,  mortality  of,  21-24; 
number  of,  24-28;  number  of 
inscribed,  40-46;  supply  of, 
63-88. 

Prostitution,  cost  of,  34—38 ; 
complexity  of,  39-41,  105-106; 
definition  of,  9-15,  fluctua- 
tions in,  19-21 ; forms  of,  28- 
31 ; involves  two  parties,  39, 
107-109;  legal  attitude  to- 
wards, 106,  111-117,  136-142, 
288-292;  medieval,  5,  6;  mod- 
ern, 6-8. 

Prussia,  venereal  disease  in, 
368-371,  377-379. 

Rescue  work,  100. 

Regulation,  defined,  121-122; 
decay  of,  266-267. 

Regulation  in  various  cities : 
see  under  names  of  cities. 

Rendezvous  houses,  96-98,  200- 
202. 

Riehl  process,  90,  185. 

Rome,  sanitary  control  in,  227. 

Rotterdam,  328,  333. 

Santoliquido,  R.,  352. 

Scheven,  K.,  168,  173,  266. 

Schj  erning,  O.  v.,  379. 

Schmolder,  R.,  116,  138,  235. 

Schneider,  C.  K.,  22,  186. 

Schreiber,  Adele,  18,  63,  77,  80, 
170,  1 77. 


Seduction,  80. 

Segregation,  175-179- 

Servants  and  prostitution,  76- 
77- 

Sex  education,  52-58. 

Souteneur,  see  Pimp. 

Stockholm,  regulation  in,  134. 

Stuttgart,  regulation  in,  130- 
136;  street  conditions  in,  58- 
59. 

Supply,  sources  of,  61-65. 

Sweden,  venereal  disease  in, 

369. 

Syphilis,  223,  250;  amount  dis- 
covered, 228-230;  length  of 
treatment,  238. 

Venereal  disease  statistics,  366. 
(For  various  countries,  see 
under  countries,  cities,  ar- 
mies.) 

Vienna,  regulation  in,  132-136; 
street  conditions  in,  157-158; 
bordells  in,  171,  188-189;  text 
of  regulations,  429-444. 

Vigilance  societies,  91. 


Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice,  365. 
White,  D.,  364. 

White  Slave  traffic,  92-94;  de- 
pendent on  bordells,  182-185. 
Wolzendorff,  K.,  142. 


Zurich,  324,  333;  venereal  dis- 
ease in,  389-391. 


™IY  center  library 


3 3125  00709  7260 


